The Reign of the Prime Merlinian Part I
by Dark Horse Writer
Summary: AU. Dave Stutler thought moving abroad with his mother, Emily Stutler to a new country was the most of their problems. However, he and his mother will find out that some things are more extraordinary than people believe to be. Chapter 13 is up. R&R
1. Chapter 1

_**AN: Hello again!**_

_**You must be thinking I'm writing a lot right now, however you would be wrong. This is the AU I have been working on since my Spring Break back in March. I want this to be a really good story, so I ended up getting two beta-readers, however over time it seems only one been getting back to me. While the other seems to be MIA. **_

_**But for this chapter I am going to give a wonderful thank you to **__**Pikeru's Angel**__** and **__**Spitfire47**__** for their help, tips, and corrections! Thank you ever so much! **_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own "The Sorcerer's Apprentice"**__**Jerry Bruckheimer and Disney do. I am not making any money off of this story. I am writing this story purely for fun and a practice in craft. **_

_**Please enjoy and do not forget to leave reviews! **_

_**Updates for chapters two and three will be up within the week. After that I cannot make any promises for the next few chapters (but I can say the whole first part is finished just needs to get betaed). **_

**1998**

**Chapter One **

His mother told him that they were moving this summer.

He had known that it was inevitable seeing how his mother complained about her job. Never the city though. She loved New York. It was just the two of them since his father passed away when he was little (his mother never remarried for one reason or another). His belief was that they would move to the city, like London, but his mother's job was situated in a town located within Northumberland, England somewhat close to Scotland.

He scrunched his nose to wherever that was. He knew England was a part of the United Kingdom **-** a large island situated North of Europe. He learned that in third grade geography.

"I don't understand why we have to move there, mom. Why couldn't you get a job still in New York City?" His mother gave him a sad smile and crouched down to meet his eyes. She looked at him in the expression that told him she understood what he was going through, however this was for the better.

He liked that sort of comfort, but sometimes it just didn't help.

"Because**,** Dave**,** this is a really big chance for mommy to show her true colors**.** Besides I thought you wanted an adventure. I know you like New York City, sweetheart, and so do I, but mommy got a new job with a really well known firm. They pick the top illustrators up there for children books, and that one firm really liked my work. They want mommy to come and work for them and would pay a lot more than what I make at my current job. They are a very reputable firm and I think you'll like it once we are in England, sweetie.

It will be open, green, and we'll have tea and maybe take the train to Scotland and visit some of the castles up there. Hey, maybe we could try and find the sword and the stone!" His mother put a smile on his face as she gave an amused grin and she stood up and looked her son in the eyes.

"But mom! The sword would already be out of the stone by now!" Dave protested and his mother laughed with a smile in her eyes and took her eight year old son in her arms.

"Oof! You're getting too big for this you know! Running into your mother's arms and being lifted up! If you're not careful you're going to pull my back prematurely!" This was an old argument, but his mom's eyes shone with a fierce love and he put his head on her shoulders.

"Do you think anyone will like me there mom? I mean I only have Bennet as a friend here," Dave said. His mother now understood his fears and looked him straight in the eye.

"David Jay Stutler, what is not to like about you? You're smart, you have a good head on your shoulders, and you make the cutest faces." He blushed at thisand looked down at his shoes abashedly. His mother ruffled his hairfondly and put him down.

"Now help me with this box squirt, and then we'll get some pizza and for this one time, this week I'll let you have some soda instead of milk okay?" His mom said as she packed a box and Dave grinned at this as he packed his Buzz Lightyear alarm clock.

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Three weeks later they were leaving New York City**.** Bennet, his best friend, hosted a _Bon Voyage _party for him and his mom at their apartment a couple of days beforehand. During that party Bennet had said, "Promise me Dave you'll write, and hopefully your mom will be okay with paying the extra postage. And I'll give you some of my drawings of wolves once I'm finished with them," Dave shook his head, knowing his friend's obsession with wolves. He didn't understand what was with Bennet and the grey wolf, but somehow he didn't really care. They were friends for life, regardless of their obsessions.

"I will Bennet, and maybe mom might be okay with me sending one of those emails she uses. It'll be quicker," Bennet shook his head and they ran into his room to read comics, discuss who is cooler Luke Skywalker or Han Solo (Han always won), and sometimes they would dig into some of his mom's books that she illustrated for with faeries, unicorns, wizards, mages, and dragons.

That was three days ago.

Now they were in the airport through security at J.F.K International Airport waiting to fly to London Heathrow airport. That was till Emily Stutler heard her name over the intercom.

"Emily Stutler to the _United Airlines_ representative desk please!" Emily looked at her son and walked to the desk.

"Yes?" Emily questioned. Knowing her luck they would get booted off from this flight. She didn't like to fly and neither did David, but there was no other way to get where they needed to go. They could have taken a cruise, but that was not what she wanted to do. She understood this was a whole new chapter in her life and that some fears needed to get over. For example flying on a cramped, germ infected, recycled air contraption that shook way too much for its own good. Never mind that, it would get her where she needed to go.

"Oh yes, you and your son have been upgraded to first class. We've gotten a note saying from your future employer that you and your son are not comfortable flying on planes. He felt the least he could do was offer you to fly where you might be more comfortable." Emily was shocked. Her boss paid for two very expensive tickets for her son and herself to fly first class? Well, it wasn't like she was going to turn them down.

"That was very kind of him, Dave honey we're going to fly first class. That's at the front…" But the representative smiled,

"Actually Ms. Stutler, you're seats are on the second level," Dave looked at his mom and his eyes grew wide.

"Wait this plane is a two story plane! I didn't even know they had two story planes!" His mother laughed and the _United _representative had a smile in her eyes. Shortly afterwards, Dave and his mother boarded the plane and climbed the stairs to their seats. There they were two seats in the bulkhead, no less, and she smiled as she took Dave's backpack and put it into the overhead compartment above their heads. She saw that there was a man next to her putting a briefcase into the storage unit next to theirs and was wearing a fairly large hat and leather coat.

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Dave looked at the first class cabin with wide, curious eyes. He had flown on planes a few times, even though he wasn't a big fan of them. He saw all the men and women with their business attire, some speaking in an English accent or even with a Scottish or Irish lilt to them. Others spoke in a mix of New York accents and even other languages as well.

He knew his mother acted as a brick for him, but he knew this was scary for her as well. They were moving out of the country, just the two of them. His father died when he was really young, and his mother always had to feel like she had to be more for him. Some would think he would be mad about not having a father and everything, but he wasn't. His mother helped him a lot, and even though back in New York City he didn't have a lot of friends his mother was his best friend. Even if that did sound a tad bit creepy.

She wasn't always so girly like he knew a lot of mom's too be, she liked to play laser tag and watch the movies he liked. But she also got him into the things that were important like history and science. She always had something nice to say; even when she was mad or frustrated. She would calm down and explain the reason why she was upset with him. Then he would understand, sometimes not at first, but eventually.

His mom called it a learning process, and just mumbled after that.

He looked through the plane's small, oval-ish window and saw the airport and wondered if anyone would really like him in England. Would he get picked on at the school for being into science and math? Would they laugh at him for being American? Or just because he was funny looking and just for being himself?

What if the firm his mother was going to work for didn't like her work as much as they thought they did? His mother would be devastated. His grandmother told him they were always welcomed back at her house, for any reason. But his mother wanted to be strong, for both of their sakes. Sometimes, Dave wondered if maybe his mom should have gotten remarried. He doesn't even remember his own father; he was still in infant when his dad died. He always wondered what it would be like to have a dad; someone who would take him to a Yankee's game or takes him to The Garden for a basketball game.

Even to watch _Star Wars_ with and watch football. Well, he wrinkled his nose at that, he wasn't much into sports but at least one baseball game with his dad did seem picturesque.

He looked at his mother who was getting everything ready to go and a really nice lady, the stewardess with brown hair and kind eyes came over and asked his mother if she wanted something called a mimosa and for him orange juice. He smiled, maybe he didn't like planes but he did like orange juice.

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Emily had only flown a few times, and never in first class. But to have someone ask if she wanted a mimosa and her son wanted some orange juice as well as having seats that were not stiff she smiled. This was a beautiful start to a whole new life. Especially because the first class attendant made sure they were comfortable and gave her son an extra pillow and she saw a package with some longer socks, a sleeping mask, and a bunch of other little freebies. Her son had a huge smile on his face.

She was getting to where she wanted to be, for years she worked as an underling for a prestigious firm in New York, but never making her mark. Her work to her colleagues had been the best they had seen in a long time**,** but her boss always made a higher profit off her work and she never got even close to what she deserved (at least in her mind). She was thinking of leaving, when her boss told her that there was another firm abroad looking into her work and she got a call from Margie Evans in Northern England, on behalf of Heinnerman & Brooks Publishing.

A fairly profitable and well known children's book firm in Northern England that had gotten a look at her work when an associate of Mr. Heinnerman's came across her work while he was in New York City for pleasure and had wanted to see if she was interested in coming across the pond to work for them.

She had dropped everything when she heard what they were offering her. Not only a significant pay raise, but seeing as she did want to do some original work that maybe in the future she would be able to start her _own_ project within the year (seeing how things go of course). She was also promised a larger share of her work profits, and at this her boss dismissed them as "leaching" talent "she found first". Right, she applied, and was the best applicant they found. Then her talent got leached for someone else to make a quick buck off of.

Welcome to corporate America.

In the end she told her boss she wanted to accept this offer, but she talked through with family and finally with her son to see what he thought before she made the final decision.

His answer? Whatever made her happy, he would go where she went. She called Margie to say she was interested in what Mr. Heinnerman and his associate were offering; it was fairly generous and asked when they would like to see her or to have a formal interview. Margie handled the interview and told her that she would get the information from Mr. Heinnerman within the week; she did and signed the contract.

Then she worked on getting her work visa, finding housing, putting her apartment up for lease, seeing as how the timing was perfect. Her lease on her and Dave's current apartment was up within the next couple of months. She found a nice cottage close to the train station to get her to the main city where she would be working and close to some very good schools.

Of course the down payment was the hardest part to pay, but her family had chipped in saying that once she got on her new payroll that she shouldn't have a problem. She said she would pay them back. They of course waved her off and said see this as an early birthday gift. Right, like paying for a new house was a birthday gift your family and friends pay for. She wasn't really that pathetic was she?

No, she wasn't.

She was going to live her dream, to work for a firm that respected her as an artist and to live abroad. Her family thought it was too perfect, and she had to agree and had talked to Margie if she could contact Mr. Heinnerman personally. She told her that he was incredibly busy with his associate, but she got a letter within the next two weeks with how sincere he was.

From there she got the tickets to fly and started contacting schools for Dave. After that everything else was easy…except to saying goodbye to her family, friends, and her co-workers she cared about at work (who thought this was one hell of an opportunity for her…seeing as she had heard of some of the work and talent they had. She felt elated that they wanted her, Emily Stutler, to work for them).

She looked back at her son, knowing they would be spoiled by this, but the representative was right this would make the flight that much more bearable.

This had to be a dream, it really had to be. She pinched herself, and smiled when it wasn't.

"Dave hon, I think this is a start of a beautiful new beginning," she smiled at him and Dave smiled back at her and messed with his hair.

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Behind the Stutler's sat a solitary man who was looking at a _particular_ illustrated children's book who's art reminded him of a time long past, with gilded letters and incredible detail and complex colors. He overheard the mother and her son talking about how nice her new boss was, and her son mentioned he would write a thank you note and spread his arms in an over exaggerated manner to say how thankful he was for his mother's new boss. His mother laughed and they strapped into their seatbelts for liftoff.

He looked on the scene with a smile his daughter, Rebecca, was back home with her mother and he was finishing some business in the city. Particularly seeing as he was the one who hired Emily Robbins Stutler to work for his firm as an illustrator, but she didn't know that seeing as he had contacted her former employer and had told her to offer her the deal saying he was abroad, when he was really in the city looking at her work and finding what he could on her. His own version of a background check considering he was one part of Heinnerman & Brooks.

Yes, Balthazar Blake thought there was something about this small family. He put the book away and grabbed the New York Times he picked up at the airport.

_**AN: Hello again, sorry for the double author's note. Anyways, this is an AU which means situations will be changed, however the characters themselves will be. Also, if you live in Northern England or around Scotland could you please give me some pointers in terms of what it is like, am I somewhat accurate in descriptions. I've been to the Southeast and trying to make things seem plausible. I did my own research but some input would be helpful. Other than that, please do not forget to review. Thanks! **_


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: As always I do not own "The Sorcerer's Apprentice"**__**Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer do. Please do not forget to review at the end (of this chapter) as well.**_

_**Also many thanks to **__**Spitfire47**__** for the beta help!**_

**Chapter Two**

Emily Stutler during the take off had practically shut her eyes when the plane left the runway. Her knuckles had gone white and David turned his head into her arm as well. When they reached cruising altitude, she saw David pull out her CD walkman and picked a _Depeche Mode_ CD, she had to quirk a smile at that. They were her favorite band ever. She had opted for an early morning flight, so when they arrived it would be nighttime in the UK. That way her son and her could get a good night's rest. She didn't want to take a red-eye flight seeing as she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep on a plane at all.

Well, maybe her son could.

She got up, once they turned off the seatbelt light so she could move around the cabin and saw a lot of men in business suits and women sipping their tea. Here she and her son were in jeans and sweaters. She never felt so out of place. She knew her son could get nervous about a lot of things, but she could as well.

Like mother, like son.

She wasn't the one to be public to her son about her own insecurities, but she wondered if she was making the right decision. Her mother, Greta Aldercroft (she still went under her husband's name), had told her that she wasn't sure if this was a good idea for her and her son. Her grandmother, however, saw how being an illustrator for a top English children's literature firm in the UK could be a good start over for her. This way she could start writing her own children's books and do the illustrations as well.

The main reason she got into illustration in the first place.

She had a project on the backburner for several years now. It was a different take on Arthurian legends. But she had to stop it, so she could work on her other projects that were giving her a paycheck.

If she was honest with herself, after George's death everything seemed to be on the backburner—until this opportunity came up. She wanted Dave to be happy, and he was close to family in New Jersey and living in the city and having friends like Bennet, and his mother Jackie and her husband Tom. Bennet's family was always kind to her and Dave. She reflected that this had to be hard for Dave. He was excited to go somewhere new when they went on vacations. This change was more than a vacation and after a few weeks the previous excitement her son had would turn into worry and homesickness. She hoped that he would make at least one good friend while he was there.

Every parent wonders if they are doing the right thing regarding their lives and their kids. She wasn't an exception to that rule, and she was not young anymore nor middle age either. She was taking Dave across the pond for her own job transfer, and taking him away from stability of friends and family. Dave was a smart kid. It didn't surprise her since George had been wicked smart too. She as well, but not to George's capability.

Someone even joked that Dave had a Charles Wallace thing going for him; she gave her friends a funny look when they made that comment. She didn't want to become a Meg Murry and save her son from an evil man on another planet and use a _tesseract_ to travel. She shook her head, why was she getting into fantasy and fictional worlds? That was her thing after all.

When she was finished in the bathroom, or the toilet or water closet (she would have to get used to the different names) she saw David tapping his foot and reading his _X-Men_ comics. She shook her head, as she was walking back to her seat there was an unexpected turbulence and the cabin shook, and of course she being a klutz as times, lost her balance balance and heard a loud splash as her thigh hit a tray table.

Damn and she never swore (in front of her son or much for that matter). She looked at the man sitting behind her (whose tray table she hit), and saw spilled water on what she assumed was his leather jacket. Water on leather, not a good combination. Knowing she was in first class, she wouldn't put it past that coat has probably cost a pretty penny.

Money she didn't really have at this point in time. She was so totally screwed if this man turned out to be like most rich men she encountered. Totally self absorbed and would scream at her for being such a klutz and ruining an _Armani_ jacket—or something to that letter.

"Sir, I am so sorry," she was waiting for the man to say that she should watch what she was doing and he looked between her and his coat.

"It's fine things happen, and don't worry about the jacket wouldn't be the first time something happened to it," the man said he looked at her with kind eyes and she grabbed some napkins she had and helped him clean it up.

"I should watch where I was going, I don't normally like planes," why did she tell him that?

He gave her a humored smile, "I said don't worry, this old coat has been through…a lot, a little water won't hurt it," what she didn't see though, was that he waved his bejeweled hand and there was a faint green yellow glow and the water was sucked out of the leather jacket.

"So what brings you to travel to England," the stranger said to her. He seemed rather nice and amiable, if a bit scruffy. Long honey, blonde locks and an overall scruffiness. He wore a green vest, a worn grey tunic, grey arm warmers, old style black faintly pinstriped slacks, and quite curiously of all, his shoes were pointed. Well, the Brits could be very strange indeed.

"Business, or rather I got a job up in the Northern England as an illustrator. My son, Dave, and I are moving from New York City," she said. She realized that he wasn't sitting next to anyone. She thought first class would be sold out; maybe he was waiting for his wife to come from the washroom.

"Would you like to sit down?" he queried. She saw her son had taken off the walkman and grabbed a pillow to sleep on. It wouldn't be a bad to talk to the man, if anything it would make this long trip feel shorter. She told him to give her a second and went back to her son. She readjusted his head so he wouldn't get a creak in his neck, and gave him a soft kiss on his cheek and went back to the kind man.

"How old is he?" the stranger asked curiously. She looked at him.

"Don't you think we should introduce ourselves?" she asked him back and he gave her a grin—although a slightly guarded look.

"I'm sorry, you can call me… Balthazar, Balthazar Blake," he said and she raised an eyebrow at his name and went with it. She also thought about the hesitant manner at first, but then decided to tell her. How odd.

"Emily Stutler, pleasure to meet you Balthazar Blake" she said to him as they shook hands. Emily didn't notice the rings on his hand seeing the hand she shook didn't have any rings, rings he previously removed a minute earlier.

"Pleasure as well Mrs. Stutler," Balthazar said and she nodded. He moved to the window seat and told him her son was eight years old, his ninth birthday would be coming up in a few months.

"I have a daughter who's eight as well," he said wistfully and she was interested—in his daughter that is.

"What's her name?" she asked and soon they talked of their kids. His daughter Rebecca and her son Dave. Then the topic of conversation turned to what they each did, he said he worked for a firm up North, and she an illustrator and showed him some of her works. He seemed highly impressed that she was working for one of the top illustrating firms in the UK. He said he knew the man who ran the firm and he knew talent when he saw it. She asked him what her boss-boss was going to be like, considering she got contacted by Margie who was in charge of recruitment.

His answer? That he was a righteous man and cared deeply for those he loved, and for the world itself. She smiled and thought that was exactly the kind of person she wanted to work for, not someone who wanted to take talent and exploit it for their own profits. She had been there too many times to count.

He said was in New York for business, and hiring a new employee for his firm, which also happened to be up North as well. She told him her and her son would be in London for a few days before they headed up North. When she and her son eventually got up there they would be renting a cottage. That way, if anything happen she wouldn't have to worry not knowing if this was going to be permanent or not. He thought that sounded like a good idea, and a way to get over the inevitable jet lag she and her son were bound to have.

He told her he would be in London for a few days as well and asked her where she was going to stay. Truth be told, it was going to be at a little B &B a friend recommended to her. He thought that sounded nice and recommended some places that were kid friendly and had good adult food as well. She smiled and appreciated his help.

She found out he was married, of course he would be and not that she was interested in him to begin with. They were both parents and that was their common bond. When lunch came she told him she was going to go back with her son and he understood.

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She seemed like the person he believed her to be, a woman who held steadfast to her beliefs. He could easily see the love that shone in her eyes regarding her son. The same he had for Rebecca, or Becky as she affectionately liked being called.

He didn't tell her that he was one of the owners of the firm she would be working for, it would be better to tell her later.

He had his suspicions about them, not in a bad way, but in a very, very good way. He had been searching for a long time, a very long time for a descendent of his master. He had been trying to find his master's heir for so long. It was a difficult task, though that was putting it lightly. He had come to New York City and, either through fate or his own two feet was brought to a small firm producing exceptionally illustrated children's books. When he saw the name, well he wanted to find as much information as he could.

She apparently won a _Newberry_ medal for her artwork and had redone a version of _The Hobbit_, her forte, he quirked an amused smile at this, was fantasy and anything dealing with another world. He saw a picture she drew of a unicorn to a wondering wizard. He brought back a few of her works she illustrated for his daughter, knowing she would spend hours looking at it.

Not to mention, he himself, got caught up in her illustrations from the dragons and the intricate scale work, to just some of the other creatures she drew (even if incorrect he had to give her credit for at least giving a good amount of detail).

But things were not as easy as he would like them to be, _he_ was still out there. He had the doll for now, and Veronica had been diffused from that prison. Morgana, however, was still in the grimhold (at least for now) with the other two occupants he caught, Abigail Williams and Sun Lok. Horvath was still out there, in the shadows and his sources told him somewhere East. He knew he would strike and soon, but he hoped he would find the Prime by then. He saw the mother and her son sleep together with his little head on her shoulder.

He would keep an eye out for them, even if he didn't believe they were the ones he was looking for. He had fought for over thirteen hundred years for people like them, and he would never stop.

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Dave Stutler never really liked planes. When the plane left the airport he buried his head into his mother's shoulder. Once, the plane evened out and things seemed to be stable he gave a sigh of relief. He thought that maybe listening to some music would distract him from being miles up in the air. He wasn't afraid of heights, but compressed places and well….he couldn't help but wonder if something bad would happen on the plane? Like the plane blew up or someone took the plane over and crashed it into something?

He shivered; he hoped _that_ would never happen.

He grabbed his mother's CD collection and his as well, they had a combine collection. He looked through his CD's from _Disney_ movies to the _Beach Boys_ and other and smiled when he found his mother's Depeche Mode CD. He liked their electronic beat, not that he knew much about music in the first place seeing as he was only eight years old.

He also took out one of his editions of _X-Men_ and sat back. The nice lady attendant came by and asked if he would like any more juice with a wide smile and he shook his head and said thanks. He saw his mom leave and she told him she would be in the bathroom.

As he was reading his comics he was wondering what was going to happen to him while he was up in England with his mom. He had thought these things earlier but continued. This was a big step for him. Would his teachers like him at his new school? Would he have friends? He had a hard time making friends in the first place, and Bennet was his best friend and only friend back home. Even if he was obsessed with wolves.

His mother, he knew, wasn't happy at her last job for the past year but tried to hide it from him. His mom once told him he couldn't lie to save his life, and he thought the same thing about his mom. He knew this move was good for her, but he wondered if this was good for him too?

He liked travelling to new places, but—well things just didn't feel right. He wondered what his dad would have thought. His father died when he was one year old, and was told his father would love him and still does.

Would he love his own son knowing he couldn't throw a football? A lot of boys laughed that he was better at math and science concepts than sports. His mother told him it was better to be smart, than to be good at sports. It got you further in life. He wasn't so sure, he was pretty sure he couldn't even kick a soccer ball (or football) either.

Every time he thought about his dad and the doubts of him, he would get this little flicker of warmth reassuring him that he didn't need those thoughts. His mom said that he needed to be sure of himself and to learn to be more assertive, or to stand up for himself. Maybe this would happen in England.

He could only hope.

When she came back and was about to go into her seat Dave felt the plane shift and tremble. He gripped his chair out of panic. His mother, on the other hand, bumped into the seat in the back and he saw a look of complete terror on her face. He couldn't hear what was going on and decided to "pretend" to be asleep so he took some pillows and laid them on his left shoulder.

His mother was apologizing about spilling some water and the man, who, Dave could sense, wasn't bothered by it and seemed…amused? He started listening to their conversation. He knew it wasn't a good thing to eavesdrop, but he wanted to know what was going on. His mother came back around to adjust his neck and he let her. She was always fawning and making sure he was okay. She went back to the man and introductions were made, and the man introduced himself as Balthazar, Balthazar Blake.

What a weird name? Dave thought but his mother told him that people in England would be odd at times. He took it with a grain of salt and heard the man had a daughter who was his age named, Rebecca, or rather liked to be called Becky.

Becky…what a wonderful name. The man was describing her, blonde hair, blue eyes, cute button nose. He had a silly grin on his face, but then frowned. It sounded like the type of girl who wouldn't give him the time of day.

Then his mother went into talking about her job, and the man seemed impressed with his mom. His mom was a much better artist than him, he always got dejected when drawing and looking at his mom. His mother laughed and said that she had to work _really, really hard_ to get where she is now. She just told him to keep practicing and in no time he would be better.

Tell that to his drawing of a dinosaur that looked more like a cross between a large rock and scissors combined. The man seemed nice enough, though he remembered a boy named Bradley back in New York City told him that some guys tricked woman for other things to "use them" or something. Bradley announced that he heard this from his older, high school sister and his older brother said that he "scored" a girl on prom.

What would a guy want to use a woman for? Except maybe to cook. His mom was a adept cook after all. He always made a mess in the kitchen. Even when making chocolate chip cookies with his mom. He was hopeless. He didn't listen to Bradley, he thought he was all tough and stuff, but he happened to be the biggest scaredy cat. He hated spiders, what boy hated spiders? That fear was a girl thing. Even his mother didn't like spiders.

He saw his mother come back around and closed his eyes.

"Dave, our lunch is here," she said with a soft smile gracing her features and he opened his eyes with a smile.

"Had a good nap sweetheart?" she said. She slid back into her seat and he nodded. He felt bad that he eavesdropped on his mother and he saw that look in her eye seeing that there was something else going on, and that maybe she wasn't as blind as he thought.

He wasn't a good liar, as he said earlier.

"You didn't take a nap did you?" she wasn't accusing him of anything it was just a statement.

"Ah'm sorry mom," he said as he bowed his head down, knowing his mother to pick up why he was sorry.

"I'm not mad sweetheart, besides it's not like we were talking about really grown up stuff anyways. He's a parent like me, and he lives in England with his wife and daughter who is your age," she smiled and they ate their lunch he asking his mom if there were any cool science museums in England or London, and she said she believed there was one. She brought out her _Frommer's_ Guide and looked at the different places in the United Kingdom.

"Sometime we need to get to Dover to see the White Cliffs and Dover Castle, and Canterbury to see the cathedral as well. You know there was this man who wrote about these pilgrims who went to Canterbury named Chaucer, we should also see if we can make it to Manchester for more than just a quick train hop. I know a friend of mine who wants me to get him a _Manchester United_ shirt," his mom said to him and he didn't know who Chaucer was or what _Manchester United_ was either, but he liked that his mom was exited.

He liked seeing his mom happy, what child didn't?

Truth be told, he was really scared to go to a new country and wouldn't know anybody there, besides his mom of course. When they finished lunch he looked out the window and saw clouds, nothing but clouds. Clouds to him were ever forming, ever moving and he thought about how he used to go to the park with Bennet and watch the clouds. He wouldn't be able to do that in England, at least with his only friend.

He asked his mom if she could get his other comic book from the overhead bin. She said she would and got out of the seat to get his bag she put up there for him. She looked like she was having some trouble with it and the attendant was busy with another person. He saw the man behind them get out of his seat and helped her. She gave him a wide smile and thanked him.

Unfortunately, Dave forgot to tell his mom he didn't close his backpack all the way and when they opened the bin two rather heavy comic books spilled out onto the man, who caught them before they fell to the floor with ease.

His mom blushed,

"I'm sorry I should have checked to make sure his backpack was close, sometimes he forgets to zip it up all the way," the man, however got onto his knees and handed him his comics,

"You're an X-men fan?" he asked. Dave didn't know what to do because he wasn't supposed to talk to strangers. He looked to his mom, who in return nodded her head saying go ahead to answer the man's, who he assumed to be Balthazar's question.

"Yes sir," he said timidly. He could get mighty shy sometimes. Especially because this man looked different with his wild hair, and did he really have rings on his hand? He knew there were some kooky people in New York City; it seemed that England would be no different.

That comforted him—a tiny bit anyways.

The man had an amused smile on his face,

"I'm a fan as well, who's your favorite character?" his mom quirked her eyebrow at this and joined her son on his seat, he was currently in her seat.

"Wolverine," he said he always liked the Canadian and the claws were cool too.

"He's a cool character, though I'm more of a fan of Gambit myself but that is just me," he said as Dave took his comics from the nice man and he said his thanks and the man ruffled his hair. He was nice, and he was _good_ but he didn't know why he thought that.

Maybe because good guys liked _X-Men_? But Bennet was good and he didn't really like X-Men that much, he was into Superman.

"Gambit fan huh?" His mother asked. Balthazar he just shrugged his shoulders. He knew his mother liked the relationship between Gambit and Rogue, but he didn't really care about that. He just went back to reading his comics and listening to another one of his mother's CD's she had. Currently he was listening to the soundtrack for _Fantasia_ because his mom said he needed to know what classical music sounded like.

Right now he was listening to the song where Mickey takes the sorcerer's hat and he makes the brooms come to life. He always liked that short animation scene; his mother told him it was based off a poem.

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Emily Stutler, for the second time that day was grateful that the man sitting behind them wasn't the kind of man to get upset when a cup of water falls over or when her son's comics books flop down on his head. She really needed to make sure Dave's backpack was zipped up all the way.

When he handed her son his comics and told him he was a fan himself, it seemed to calm her son down who normally got scared out of his wits when meeting people he didn't know.

_A Gambit Fan, huh? _

She looked back at him,

"Gambit fan huh?" she queried he gave her a lopsided grin.

"What can I say, the card tricks he does are cool…especially when he _charges_ them up," he added cryptically. She didn't catch the second meaning in that last part.

She saw on her watch that a few hours had passed and an announcement was made that they were about 100 km outside Heathrow. She knew in airplane speak that wasn't terribly far.

"Thanks for the help with the compartment, I don't know why it was giving me trouble," she said and Balthazar just shrugged his shoulders.

"Sometimes those things just need the right _persuasion_," Balthazar said as he sat down in his seat again but she saw him dig around in his brief case.

"I must have forgotten, but where did you say you and you're son were staying again?" he asked. She told him for a few days in London at the B&B, but then up North towards Northumberland in a small village in a country cottage. She told him the number and his eyebrows rose.

"That's not terribly far from where my family and I reside, here I'll give you my address if you need any pointers or help moving in. Not to mention, I'm sure Becky wouldn't mind to have another playmate," he said with a smile.

Emily wasn't sure if this was a godsend, or if this was the first impression of English hospitality but here was a business man going out of his way for her. But…no he was married and she wasn't giving him any sign in anything differently. When he talked about his wife she knew he had a sappy look on his face. She knew that look fairly well.

She said she didn't have a phone number just yet, and he said that was fine, but would give him his. He did say he would have been happy to have dinner that night, but he had some business to attend to.

Emily said he did more than enough for her and David already.

Little did she know that he was the one who paid for her and her son to sit up in first class, and was her new boss as well.

The seatbelt sign was turned on and she returned to her seat, address in hand, and gave many thanks to Balthazar Blake.

_**A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please click that blue button that say "Leave a review" if there is anything that is on your mine, or want to see improve do not hesitate at all! I am all for constructive criticism. **_


	3. Chapter 3

_Hello there, yes I updated. :)_

_Regarding recent events…I've decided to focus on my fanfiction story and work on my novel to be posted on fictionpress than eventual publishing. I got slammed by my sister who has decided beyond what she told me does __**not**__ want to help me become a better writer. So, I am taking her feedback and correcting what I can, and hoping to get more feedback from fellow writers so I can make my original story really good. The first chapter is up on fictionpress. Anyways, that tangent is done I will be updating __**this story**__ a little more often as I can before I head back to school in late August, but I can't make any promises._

_Please review because seriously what you say does matter to me. Don't be afraid to be tough, I need it! I really do!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own The Sorcerer's Apprentice Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer do!_

_Just to let you know I saw Grouplove, a band where there song "Gold Coast" plays during the scene Becky is in her studio before Abigail abducts her. Awesome band by the way. _

_To add when I wrote this chapter was months before the riots in London, England so if a part later on in this chapter seems a bit sensitive I am sorry, it's just a part of the story nothing else._

_Many thanks to __**Spitfire 47**__ for the beta help!_

_Enjoy and sorry for the excessive author's note!_

**Chapter 3**

Balthazar knew in any other situation this would look like he felt something for her, and he did—just not what people expect. He was in love with Veronica, but he saw they're a small family travelling miles away to a new place, a new job, and there was something about them. He just couldn't quite place it. He gave them his address. He trusted her and her son, he felt no ill towards them. He wasn't sure why, he normally was weary of who he talked to outside a small circle of people.

He just hoped that for his sake his _real_ job wouldn't catch up with innocents like them. He has lived for millennia and the bitterness that comes with it—especially remembering how it all began. Veronica, for a time, was imprisoned in the grimhold before Morgana was. When they fought Morgana, Merlin released her before his demise when Morgana was possession of it. Maxim, at that point, had turned on them. Seeing Veronica lie there, drained and helpless after coming out of the grimhold Morgana was going to throw a plasma bolt at her. He saw the grimhold by Veronica's prone form and grabbed for it. He opened it up and Morgana screeched her soul and body getting sucked into the prison. Now, they had it, not after Morgana had killed Merlin and he and Veronica were tasked with a mission of great importance: to find the Prime Merlinian, Merlin's heir to his power. He didn't want to remember that night.

Veronica and he had travelled around the world for ages trying to find him, and along the way made different aliases. Now, he had gone by a name he hadn't gone by in awhile and his last name changed with the times. A family didn't seem possible with them when they returned to England. Going back to the keep was painful, but it seemed that Veronica's family home was still intact and was…of all things…for sale when they had arrived in that part of England in the early 1970's. They had accumulated a large amount of funds and purchased Veronica's former family home going under the guise as a married couple. At least the home that was on her parents land after the stronghold degenerated over time.

Horvath was out there, lurking, gathering support, but for right now Balthazar and Veronica were not sure where he was. They would face him together. It was one night he and Veronica were out and saw that a young American family got shot down by a local gang near a petrol station. They had an infant daughter who was in their rental car nearby. When the authorities found out that the girl had no family left in the United States she was to be registered in the English system. Veronica had asked him if they could raise her as their own, seeing as the child would have no other place to go.

Balthazar had told her at first no, with what they needed to do and no, and wouldn't want to get her involved, but he saw how enamored his wife was with the girl. They asked the authorities if they could adopt her seeing as they didn't want her to get into the system and had wanted a daughter or any child that is for what seemed like an eternity. It was an eternity for them for the spell they were cast by Merlin, to remain ageless till their quest was fulfilled.

Everything worked out seeing as, in their terms, he was an accomplished owner of a well known children's literature firm (that he cofounded with another Merlinian sorcerer but changed his name to Brooks to not be a calling sign to Morganians) that dealt with fairytales and Veronica kept a shop in the town square of knick knacks they gathered over time, dubiously known as _The Arcana Cabana_. A shop known more for its occult nature, but somehow still kept afloat.

The girl's name was Rebecca Evelyn Barnes, but now she would be Rebecca Evelyn Blake, and she had for the past seven years. They of course told her she was adopted, just last year but told her that they loved her and that her parents, who died way before their time, would be proud of the girl she was now.

She had given them a big hug that day, and some of the defenses he had built crumbled knowing that if Horvath found out about her he would fight with all he had to keep her safe. He had told her he and Veronica' secret, and of course she kept her mouth shut and only talked about it in their house. They had tested her, to see if there was a chance she had the gift as well.

She didn't, but they expected that would happen. But, Rebecca, Becky she wanted to be called didn't have a problem considering she was good at one thing her parents were not.

She could play a musical instrument better than the two of them combined. She loved music and Veronica had asked her if she picked one instrument she wanted to learn what it would be. The violin it seemed and they had rented a violin and got some lessons for her through an ex-Cambridge music professor who taught her how to read music and play the violin. She had a knack for it and a year later had bought Becky her own violin if she promised to practice and keep with it.

Like he had to ask her seeing as she constantly practiced to improve.

Seeing Emily and her son together he knew how important her son was to her, and knew this would be a scary transition. Besides, Becky liked having people to play with and he was _very picky_ with who came over and played with his daughter. This Dave seemed like a good kid with a mother who knew how to raise her son, backpack unzipped aside.

The plane landed and he saw the dark skies and would be staying at a hotel before taking the Phantom up north tomorrow.

He had some business to get to, involving one of his contacts might have a lead as to where Maxim Horvath might be and talking to his associate Eric Heinnerman.

Before they left he told Emily to be careful in London during the night and she thanked him for his concern and her son said by as well. He believed he would be seeing more of them in the near future.

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Customs was something Emily had only encountered once when she went up to Montreal with Robert when they were younger, and this man seemed to want to know everything: her boss's name, where she was going to stay, whose numbers she had, and exactly what address did she have to begin with. The agent was even giving Dave the glare and asking him questions as well. She couldn't blame Dave for trembling and then he stamped her passport and nodded at Dave's birth certificate.

They got their luggage easily enough and didn't have to declare anything and took the Heathrow Express to Victoria Station where they would take taxi to their place and get something to eat before they fell asleep. Dave's eyes, as well as hers were wide when she saw the city looming forward it's tall buildings and lights and she thought she could make out the spire where Big Ben was (the clock, not the tower because contrary to popular belief Big Ben is the name of the clock).

They arrived at Victoria station and got through the turnstiles they were heading towards the queue of taxis and took their luggage she saw there were so many people and her son, not learning his first lesson, kept his backpack open and his favorite _Star Wars_ action figure fell out and he ran back to get it and she ran to get him to stay where he was. He ran into a man, who looked down at her son and had a nasty look on his face.

"Watch were you are going brat," this man oozed pompousness and self-indulgency and the kind of attitude that he was better than everyone else because he had money. He wore a black bowler hat and rather outdated coat with a fur accessory.

The exact opposite of Mr. Blake.

"Hey give him a break sir, he just wanted to pick up his toy that fell out of his backpack before someone took it," the man had a cane in his hand and sneered at her.

"I suppose this…_thing _belongs to you? You should know how to discipline your own child." He spoke with a sneer and had a look on his face that spoke he wanted to do something and decided not to…for better or worse.

She was steaming mad, how dare that man call her son a thing. Respectable people, even if they are well off, don't call a kid a thing. Her son was a human being, not a thing.

"I believe you owe an apology to my son _sir_," she gritted her teeth and the man stopped and raised an eyebrow in a very condescending manner.

"I believe your son should be apologizing to me," she heard Dave give a muffled sorry as he was about to pick up his Luke Skywalker action figure…when the man used his cane and smashed it against Luke's body. Dave looked crushed when he saw the broken form of his action figure and the man left with a laugh.

So maybe not everyone was as kind as Balthazar Blake and she saw Dave had a tear in his eyes.

"You know what, I bet we can find another Luke for you hon, and that mean, nasty man will never bother us again you hear. He thinks he is too important for this world, he'll get what's coming to him sooner or later," she said to her son and hugged him. She looked at the retreating man who just smirked at everyone who passed. She knew the type of guy, made probably millions of pounds sterling a year and thought he could treat everyone with disrespect.

And they thought Americans were stupid?

She had no idea who that man was, but all she thought was that bastard better stay away from her son. She knew those types and she wanted to have nothing to do with them. Unfortunately, she didn't catch his name, and not like the police would do anything about a self-absorbed rich man to begin with.

When they got into their taxi, and left Victoria train station a kilometer away they hear a giant explosion and the taxi driver stopped.

"Bloody hell!"

She wasn't able to cover her son's ears and it seemed he would get his first dose of the British vulgarity. Not that this was bad though—compared to some terms.

Emily looked in the back of the taxi cab and saw the train station where people were screaming bloody murder and cars were trying to get out of the way. Dave was trembling, and so was she. Not even five minutes ago she and Dave were at the station.

"Mom?" Dave squeaked. A second later she saw in the second lane a black _Ferrari_ raced across traffic and their driver pulled as much to the side as he could and she saw another car a black, or really more sliver _Ashton Martin _racing after the _Ferrari_.

Their taxi driver looked at Victoria station and Emily heard the sirens and Dave was shook and she calmed him down.

"We're okay Dave we are with the nice taxi driver," the driver a young British man who was in his mid twenties looked at them.

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience ma'm but the police have hailed all taxis in the area to stop and to evaluate what happened," he said. A second later heard the sirens of the police racing after the two cars that disappeared a minute ago.

She looked at her son who was frightened beyond belief.

"You know what Mr. Burton I think my son and I will be fine if we get out here, I do have a map," it was around nine o'clock at night and Dave was getting tired. She had a few energy bars for food, but they needed to get some dinner.

She looked at the list Mr. Blake had given her and one of the restaurants was a pub he recommended. She looked at her map and saw they were not far from it. She knew they could take the tube, but the restaurant was about three blocks away, not too far by her standards. They were used to walking seeing as they did live in the city before coming here.

They came across the pub and in front of the pub were a 1930's fashioned black Rolls Royce Phantom. She had to hold back a whistle. She had to remember the Brits were classy people and she entered the pub, only to find a familiar face, but he didn't look particularly happy and he was in a heated conversation with another man.

"He got away! Again!"

It was the familiar voice of Balthazar Blake, but edgier and there was a held back fury in it. Maybe he had heard about what she saw happened at Victoria Station.

But Dave being Dave saw the familiar figure and said and was a little oblivious to the man's current attention.

"Mr. Blake is that you?" He quivered and she saw Balthazar, pivot on his foot and she saw that he was holding back a barely restrained anger but then his eyes landed on them and were shocked, but then softened up.

"Well this is a surprise, I'm guessing we might have dinner after all," he changed smoothly (and rather unexpectedly considering a second ago the mood he was in). Emily exclaimed,

"Were you talking about whatever nut case decided to cause a commotion at Victoria Station? Dave and I were five minutes past the station when we heard the explosion," she voiced. The other man turned a questioning eye to them and she saw Mr. Blake talked in hush whisper and the other man nodded.

"I'll see you later Mr. Blake to finish our _conversation_," the other man said and he nodded to them as he left the pub.

Balthazar looked extremely troubled and his eyes were looking around the pub almost as he was expecting something to happened, but then his stance changed.

He then took his fingers through his hair,

"You could say that, I saw what happened at Victoria the man who caused it causes a lot of trouble, I was just _annoyed_ that he didn't get caught and got away from…_the authorities._" Mr. Blake announced and she got the point.

Emily thought there might have been a hidden meaning in there somewhere, but shook it off. She was tired after all.

"I hope the people will be okay, Dave and I were lucky," she stated. Mr. Blake nodded with a neutral look gracing his face.

"I hope so too, but seeing as this was probably more excitement than you attended for your first night in good ol' London why don't I treat you and your son to dinner and drive you to your B&B."

Once again she was amazed at the generosity of the man. Dinner was a pleasant affair, and she was surprised that the car belonged to no other than Balthazar.

Maybe some wealthy folks were not that bad was Emily's thought as Mr. Blake drove them to their B&B. Dave was still holding his broken Luke action figure and brought their luggage into the B&B when they arrived there. Mr. Blake was helping Dave out when he asked what happened to the action figure. She explained that a man with a cane with a blue gem on it, with a black bowler hat, and a serious pompous attitude broke her son's toy. As she was explaining this she saw Balthazar's eyes widen and a glint of something else passed through them, but turned back to a dispassionate look.

"I'm sorry that your action figure got broken by that _man_," he said to Dave. Dave still looked pretty downtrodden about his favorite action fantasy hero. Emily thanked Mr. Blake for everything that night and earlier and told them to have a good night's rest.

They went into the B&B.

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Balthazar Blake was furious. Not only was Maxim Horvath here but also he was unable to stop him from causing some general mayhem. Horvath caused a huge commotion at one of the largest and busiest train stations in London. Many were talking about what happened, but the details were called more hysteria that actuality because no one had a clear picture. He heard the explosion when he was talking to a colleague who had brought his car while he was away and saw Horvath run and take a cab and turned it into a _Ferrari_ before anyone knew the wiser.

He and his colleague, an Eric Heinnerman, jumped into his Phantom and he put his hand on the hood of the car and changed his car into a sleek _Ashton Martin_ and raced along the streets of London only to lose him. That turned his mood sour. He was fairly hungry seeing as he was just on a transatlantic flight and saw he was nearby one of his favorite pubs and pulled up, of course changing the car when no one was looking back to the Phantom.

Five minutes later and was surprised to see the medium length black hair and fair features of Emily Stutler and her son, David Stutler in the same place as he was. Well, he shouldn't be _that_ surprised he had given her the address and name of this particular pub.

He had given her a list of ten restaurants, and the odds were one in ten chances of her picking this pub. In his line of work coincidences were not just that.

They entered the pub when he was ranting about how Horvath got away, again to Eric Heinnerman. Luckily, over the years he knew how to be discreet.

Eric gave him 'the look' knowing who were these people and how did they know who he was. He explained, albeit quickly, telling Eric to get some more information and try and see where Maxim Horvath is, while he dealt with the Stutlers.

Truth be told, sometimes feigning innocence wasn't all it was cracked up to be when he was explaining the whole Victoria Station event. He was glad that they got out of there, but when she told them after their dinner about their meeting with a very pompous man and the description he was very lucky, at least for that moment, that Maxim decided to be smart and let them get away.

He knew Horvath had their faces in his mind now, if he saw them again they would be dead, no matter the reason. He had to make sure they got to his neck of the woods safely. He had heard that Emily had tickets to take the train up North. She had asked him if he was driving up all the way, it was sure to be a long drive.

He didn't tell her that he could make the drive in half the time considering his car could become a speed demon whenever he willed it to happen, but she didn't need to know that.

He had some other business to attend to first. He saw that the comic shop he knew around here was still open and found what he was looking for, and paid for it. He went back to the B&B and gave the front desk a little box with a note on it for one Dave Stutler.

The least he could do was give the poor boy another action figure after his so called friend decided to be a bully, once again. Luckily he was staying up late enough to hear that there were no fatalities at Victoria, but a lot of injured and the trains would be heavily delayed. A lot of people, the government, and commuters were not going to be happy about this at all.

He called Eric up to make sure that he would be on their train in three days going up north, where Eric would Emily's new boss, and to make sure that nothing happened while they were travelling up North.

He should also call Veronica to tell her not to worry that he is fine, and to say hello to Becky too. He was very tired and once in his hotel room and got ready for bed and fell asleep knowing tomorrow was going to be a busy day.

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Once in their room at the B&B, Emily looked at her son who was ready for bed and his eyes had bags under them and he just climbed into bed and just automatically went to sleep. She kissed his cheek and he seemed so peaceful right now.

It had been a long and busy day for the two of them and she hoped that tomorrow their exploration of the city would be good. She looked out of the window into the city of London and had a shawl her mother had given her and saw Mr. Blake leave. She couldn't put her finger on it, but there was something about that man. He was very charming, polite, and thoughtful. But there was something else too, and she had an inquisitive mind and it told her there was something more to this man. It has been an exciting day to say the least and she was very tired. She hoped that tomorrow it would be a little calmer, well maybe not seeing how big London was in hindsight.

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Maxim Horvath didn't know who was trying to follow him in that _Ashton Martin_, but he had gotten away from him simply by changing the car into the myriad of taxis in London. He was hoping to find _them_. He had traversed the world and had run into them, fighting them and trying to take the grimhold but for the last fifty years he failed in his attempts to find who he searched for.

It seemed that after the Second World War, Balthazar and Veronica were lying low, and he had come up to England hearing rumors of the magical kind in the North and thought he would take a peek. Of course, he didn't expect the place where Merlin's teaching spilled with to be dry and the person in that _Ashton Martin_ must have been a local Merlinian.

He snorted, typical some small timer wanted to play with the big boys.

Unless…he had help.

He hated this time where people were absorbed into their own lives and kids could run where they pleased, one such thought he could trample all over him…for a doll no less! The boy was annoying with mish shaven black hair and a rounded jaw he had dropped a doll with blonde hair white clothes made of, what he assumed, plastic. It was infuriating and what was more seething was the woman who bore the child had the audacity to ask him to apologize to _her_ son. The nerve! He would have killed her right there and then, but he didn't want to be so open.

When they left and he had a plan there was a man watching him and had wide eyes and looked around the crowd.

He smiled and sent a bolt to an incoming train that was being serviced with no passengers and blew it up. He walked away into a taxi and changed it to his liking. He saw all the people running and screaming and soon a _Ashton Martin_ on his tail.

He had driven to an old industrial part of London where he knew to be some Morganians around. When he came to the place there were some young street bums who asked why he was here. One look at him and they blanched. He needed information.

He came across a woman, with black silken hair and green jade eyes and pale skin sitting in an old brick house and petting a large black cat with yellow eyes.

"Ah Mr. Horvath, spectacular what you did at Victoria this afternoon I must say…" she was raving but at the same time not giving an air of interest.

"Enough of your pleasantries _Charlene_ I am here for information, do you know if there are any sorcerers up in the North I heard from a reliable source there was something up there," he declared. Charlene brazenly took a cigarette and lit it up, calm and collected and breathed it out and smiled.

"I know that there is an Eric Heinnerman of Heinnermen & Brooks Publishing. Funny, he publishes fictional books about magic and _fairy tales_ all rather drab, but he does keep a good amount of illustrators on his team. He has another associate as well, but I have never heard his name nor of him. It's the Brooks character though, mostly keeps to himself. I just know from my sources that Heinnerman has, what would you call it—oh yes some more power," she gave him a coy smile and drawled.

"The kind of power I _would_ like to have," and she shooed her cat away. The cat scurried as she walked slowly and seductively towards him and showed her ample cleavage.

He's had enough.

"As much as your proposition is rather…_appetizing_, I rather find this new associated of Heinnerman because something tells me it might be who I am looking for," he seethed and left her miserable place. She believed her feminine wiles and womanly curves will tantalize his senses. She was very delusional, he only had eyes for one, but _she_ audaciously told him she loved another.

A man who had been his brother in everything but blood, and who he trusted the most had kissed the love of his life, and she fell in love with that one kiss. Everything from that point was so vastly different.

Every person would pay when he released Morgana and her other followers from that prison. Especially that one boy and his mother as well as his former brother in everything but blood.

_It just sort of occurred to me that during the speed chase in the movie that Balthazar drives a Mercedes Benz, and it's a German car. Not that I have anything against Germans or awesome Mercedes, I don't. Seeing as Balthazar and Veronica would have lived through World War Two and the fact that the Mercedes motors were working on the opposition side it just makes sense to me that they might not be big fans. I mean he drives a car produced by a company that made the PV-12 engine (also known as The Merlin—after the bird of prey) that helped greatly in the war effort. Even Nicolas Cage had chosen the car based on that fact…and swerved the idea for the movies favor. _

_That's just a tid-bit as to why I didn't go with the use of the McLaren for the car choice. Also, I'm a car aficionado and it pretty much made my day when I saw they had a Rolls Royce Phantom. It's my favorite classic car to date and has been since I was eight years old. _

_Anyways, reviews greatly appreciated! _


	4. Chapter 4

_Hello, _

_I feel incredibly guilty and sorry for not having this chapter up sooner. It is long, hopefully that will comfort the followers of this story. __**I am not**__ giving up on this story to let you all know. I have to find my motivation in re-editing my chapters (when it seems I am constantly re-writing to begin with). School is important after all, and having some semblance of a life too. _

_As always, constructive reviews and general reviews are very much appreciated and welcomed!_

_Disclaimer: The world of SA does not belong to me; it belongs to Jerry Bruckheimer and Disney. _

_Many thanks to __**Spitfire47**__ for the beta help. _

**Chapter Four**

Emily Stutler woke up and looked out the window and smiled as she saw the skyline of London that morning. She left her side of the bed and went over to her son's side and kneeled down onto her knees.

"Good mornin' governor Dave it's a brilliant day to go outside and peruse the streets of London," she spoke in what failed to be a Cockney accent and Dave woke up startled at his smiling mother.

"Why are you talking funny mom? And why did you call me governor?" He groggily announced as he yawned and her son got out of bed.

"Well a lot of people have accents in England, well according to Americans that is. Anyways, we don't want to snooze away. Tomorrow we leave for the North and I don't know about you but I want to do some exploring and see all the sights that we can. How does that sound?" She said and she saw her son shut the bathroom door.

She smiled and shook her head. Her son wasn't a morning person, like she was, inherited from his father no doubt. A pang of sorrow flooded her heart. George Stutler had been a good man, a really good man who had treated her like how any woman should be. With respect and was proud of who she was. She always wanted to live in England, George's family was from England originally and his family…

Well it's not like they hated her or anything, his sister Marthie adored her, but they were a rather well off British family who thought she wasn't good enough for their son. An art student who wouldn't make a dime is what they really thought, but her parents had been teachers and had loved George like their own.

George always told her that his family had their reasons that they were worried for their safety seeing as the family had enemies of a kind. She didn't know one could have enemies in the doctoral world of advanced degrees, but that was life for you. He had moved to Montreal with her, and they had their son Dave there. They lived there until _that_ day.

George had gone to work like he normally did, and it was snowing rather heavily. She wasn't sure if it was the smartest thing to do, but he assured her he would be fine. He made it to his job fine, but what happened was…from what the police told her anyways was that there were a group of people who cornered him. The police said it was street thugs, but the next minute to break up the scene they were not there, nowhere to be seen and in the alleyway a block away they found George's body.

And none of his rings were on his fingers from his wedding ring, or his 'special' ring that held a lot of sentimental value to him. She had cried and Dave, only being three at the time, didn't know why his mom was sad. George's family had come over and she remembers eavesdropping on them and talking about her and Dave. Luckily, Marthie had spoken on her behalf. After that day George's family had decided to break ties with her, besides Marthie.

Marthie said they were just blaming her for everything that happened to him, which she knew not to be true. She said that they wanted him to marry someone who was more _like him_, but she didn't care who her brother married. So, Marthie moved to the states to work as a high school physics teacher and had been with her and Dave, and had supported her moving to England (to the North far, far from the family's home in the Southeast around Brighton). She worked in San Francisco right now and told her she would visit when she could get some time off.

Even Bennet and his mother, Jackie, also her friend wanted to come up and visit them. They thought that maybe going to Liverpool and going on a Beatle's tour would be fun.

Anyways, she was here with her son in the wonderful city of London. Dave opened the bathroom door and was clean, brushed his teeth and dressed for the day. Another forty five minutes later they were downstairs eating a very good breakfast (she forgone coffee for tea if she was going to be in England she would get caffeine the English way). The breakfast was delicious and the owner came with a box with a tag for Dave. She said that a man had left it for her last night and Dave opened it and smiled.

It was a Luke Skywalker action figure, just like the one he had before that pompous man broke it and didn't even say sorry. She had an idea who the woman was talking about. They put Luke back in the room seeing as she didn't want anything to happen to him. Dave and she were off to traverse the London streets. She grabbed the map and the first thing they did was to take the Tube somewhere to get an Oyster Card for the two of them. They first went to the British Museum, Dave's idea. Normally kids never liked museums, but Dave liked to learn about…everything especially science. She had a soft spot for history and while in England thought she would dust off her works of Arthurian Legend.

They looked at the _Rosetta stone_, which had Hammurabi's code etched in three different languages from cuneiform to Latin, to the Egyptian halls. Next, they had lunch seeing it was lunchtime and would be back there again. Dave expressed interest to go on the _British Airway's_ London Eye, and even though expensive was totally worth it. She didn't deny they were tourists and had someone take a snapshot of them. A nice woman by the name of Alice Algar, she talked to her and found out she is a school teacher up north at a very prestigious school.

Mrs. Algar asked if Dave had found a school yet, she blushed and said she wanted to ask around or to send him to a public school. Alice asked Dave a few questions and said if she could get a transcript faxed over she could see what she could do. She grinned and told her that would be brilliant.

They got some roasted nuts afterwards and walked over to the Shakespeare Globe and she told Dave one of these days he had to see a Shakespeare play. Her favorite was "A Midsummer Night's Dream," and she thought Dave might like it. She would have liked to go to _Tate Modern_, but knew that Dave wasn't much for art right now. They just walked and she bought Dave a disposable camera so he could take some of his own pictures. Dave wondered if they could go to where _Star Wars_ was made, Elstree Studios, but his mother said that was a little far. Also, she wasn't sure if they had tours to begin with.

Emily and her son decided to take a double deck red bus tour and climbed the stairs to the second level and took a seat. They took in the sights and Dave asked if he could sit on her lap, even though she had a scowl on her face that he was getting too old to do it. She indulged him this once, and wrapped her arms around her son and he smiled and she did as well looking at the city.

"Mom," he said and she looked at him with a smile.

"I think I might like England, hey do you think we will see the queen?" He asked her with all the enthusiasm of a child. She whispered into his ear,

"Maybe…who knows…but she is a very busy lady and has a lot to do regarding her country and all," he laughed and they got off and walked through the West End and Dave told her they had a lot of musicals like Times Square did and she had to agree. They walked a few blocks and were getting hungry when Dave saw the _Hard Rock_ and asked if they could have dinner there. She shrugged her shoulders, why not? They were doing the whole American tourist thing anyways.

The wait wasn't as long as she thought it would and she looked at all the different instruments they had and Dave told her what his favorite part of the day was, she told him that tomorrow they had to get up fairly early to catch their train to Hartlepool in North East England. She pulled out her daily planner and saw they had to leave from Kings Cross South and leave for Manchester and connect to their next train.

She watched Dave eat his hamburger as she ate hers, she noted that the Brits were not the best hamburger makers and decided that her days of ordering burgers were over. She enjoyed just watching her son.

She looked at the address for the school that Mrs. Algar left her and would get in contact with them. She also had the contact information for her new job, Margie, who she was supposed to contact if she had any questions. She also had to pick up her key for their new cottage tomorrow, all her stuff apparently arrived at the house and the agent who sold her the house said that she had their stuff locked up.

As they headed back towards their B&B, Emily noted that today was exciting, but not quite as exciting as the day before, but she smiled because tomorrow they would take a train up North to their new home.

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He certainly got an earful when he called Veronica about what happened at Victoria station and told her that, at least there were no fatalities, a lot of casualties, but no one died. She knew he would be at that station around the time and it probably had worried her before he called her. He talked to Becky for a few minutes till he went to bed. The next day he and Eric Heinnerman were talking business and what would happen when their new illustrator gets to work on Monday. Right now being Saturday.

He wanted to know how Eric believed it was Horvath, and he said he saw him and his appearance matched to what the _Encantus_ has. If Horvath found Veronica and him…as well as…

No he would let nothing happen to her.

"Balthazar are you listening to me? Our sales have gone up two percent," he shook his head. They were talking of business and Eric's publishing house. When Balthazar had come to England (again) in the 1970's with Veronica they had moved around, but finally settled in Hartlepool where he moved outside the city to the country and seaside.

It was the same place where Veronica had grown up along a stronghold on the coast; the same stronghold was there—in ruins. Another castle was there, but smaller more of manner that was for sale. Veronica had this look in her eyes and they had bought it, considering in all aspects it was as close as a home they were going to get.

A few years later (well more than a few), the story was told, and they got Rebecca, or Becky, as she liked to be called now.

He met Eric and found out that he was a sorcerer as well; it was quite a shock for Eric. Over time they had both helped each other and had tested his son to be the Prime Merlinian, which he still did. The ring was in the shop and sometimes by fate or curiosity a child would wander in and the ring would be tried…and failed.

But somehow he got a feeling that there might be a real possibility that this new illustrator's son might be the Prime Merlinian.

How did he know?

Sorcerer's in one way or another tended to find each other, unknowingly or by chance but there was a connection as to how they each met in each circumstance. The same had happen when he became an apprentice to Merlin and meeting Eric with his graying hair, business tended mind, and proper attitude.

If that wasn't good enough the fact that he had found Emily Stutler's work through his daughter and her work brought her here.

But there was only one way to be sure, and he didn't want to jump on this.

It would scare them away, and if Dave Stutler was the Prime Merlinian he wanted to be trusted by both the boy and his mother. It wasn't that he was manipulating them at all, but if he told her son is a sorcerer…well it would scare her as well as her son. She and her son needed to find out for themselves, and hopefully within a few weeks to months that would happen. Or sooner.

Eric got a call from his wife and told him that he needed to go. He would be making his way home tomorrow morning, fairly early.

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Emily realized that she was essentially jet-lagged and yet still booked an early train ride to Hartlepool. At least she could sleep to Manchester, but the other train ride would be a lot shorter. Dave was barely awake but they grabbed their stuff and she paid the final bill as well as stopped at an ATM to get some more money. She would have to open an account sometime in England and pulled out some more pounds sterling because the cash she had on hand from the currency exchange had been spent.

They took a taxi to the train station and grabbed a coffee for her and a muffin for Dave (as well as some good old orange juice) for the trip up North. They had reserved seats. When they entered the coach area they saw their seats were facing forward and the man sitting in front of them looked familiar.

He was the man with Mr. Blake at the pub and he recognized her as well.

"I seen you before at the pub," Emily said and the other man blinked.

"I believe you did, and I am sorry for not introducing myself Eric Heinnerman at your service," he said with a small charming smile and Emily had to gape and closed her mouth.

"Eric Heinnerman of Heinnerman & Brooks publishing? You're my boss. It's a pleasure to meet you and thank you so much for the opportunity to work for your firm," she said jovially and Mr. Heinnerman smiled as they shook hands.

"It's my pleasure you have some wonderful work, and this charming young man must be your son David, or Dave," Eric went down on his hunches after he put his briefcase away and Dave backed away. Emily bent down and told Dave it is okay he's her boss and introduced himself. Eric smiled.

"Good that we know each other, and I won't bother with talking business right now. I hoped you enjoyed your time in London. Though, I believe you will probably go back. So, how much do you know about Hartlepool?" Mr. Heinnerman asked.

She told him just as much as she read, the train was about to depart when a young boy with bleach blonde hair and darker roots, a rather flashy sense of style, and a young girl with flaming red hair ran onto the train to join the boy.

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"Stupid man really, stupid dropped me nothing but my….textbook and some abandonment issues," the boy was ranting and the girl glared at him.

"Get over yourself Drake, that bastard didn't care in the slightest or 'I'm too high up to do anything productive and try to seduce some powerful guy' ugh I'm glad we ran. Now we can do what we want with what we have, you and me," the girl said. Drake snogged the girl and Eric gave a rather loud cough and they broke apart.

"What's his problem Matilda?" Drake said and she whispered to him, "Stuck up businessman Drake, all the same no matter where we go. The young man and the woman took in each other close. Drake's hand snaked around the girls lower extremities, before Drake got an eyeful from Eric for his behavior.

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Emily shook her head, kids will be kids and she wondered what their problem was. Dave was already asleep by the time the train left the station.

Eric asked her if she would like anything to drink she said some coffee would be good.

Dave awoke and looked out the window of the train and saw all the green and they were right next to a highway and Dave said, "Look mom."

She looked and saw a sleek silver _Mercedes McLaren_ roaring on the freeway going faster than probably legal. She heard a large sigh from Eric and she concluded that he didn't like this guy's antics. He didn't know she had a thing for fast, sexy cars and bikes. But her future boss didn't need to know about that.

"Don't care for speed demons?" Emily asked her new boss and he glanced at her.

"Not when you know one," he says evasively. She raised an eyebrow at this as she saw the car disappear as it burned rubber.

"Personally saying if I had the funds, I wouldn't mind getting a car like that," she said offhandedly and he piped in.

"Well to each his own, I've had a fair share of…well never mind. Will you excuse me please," Eric said as he left his seat. She just got up and got her illustrations out on her own personal project. She was just working on the line art right now.

Dave was looking at all the green countryside and she some castles in the background. She looked out as well and could easily imagine what it could have been like all those years ago. The age of chivalry, though probably not always practiced, and knights, kings, queens, and all that stuff romantics like her fall for.

She knew the truth through history with all the wars and constant tribal fighting, but still the romantic part of her just was glad to be in a place with so much history. She continued on her own project and was working on her main character, a sorcerer, and an idea came into her mind. She went back to her first sketch and did some revisions on it, added longer hair and a cloak. Before she knew it Eric Heinnerman came back and stared at her drawing with blinking eyes. She looked up and her eyes with a worried expression.

"What? Is my proportion off?" she said knowing that sometimes people said that about her work though she worked incredibly hard to get it right.

He shook it off, "No not that, just…what _are_ you working on?" He quietly posed. She told him about her personal project she had been working on for two years in her spare (infrequent) time. He just nodded and asked where the inspiration came for the main character; she said originally her husband but that her character was missing something and thought longer hair would be better.

She took his reaction with a grain of salt not realizing the full implications of what he was referring to.

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Balthazar maneuvered his car far easier than should have been possible, but after having experience since the first car was ever invented he had been accustomed to the steering, breaks, and the limits of the machine. It was freeing to be honest, much faster than any horse and more ingenious than most modern day products.

And Eric Heinnerman complained that he was going too fast, he should say that he had more driving experience than the whole of England. Eric wouldn't argue with that.

He risked a glance that there was a high speed train making its way up North and he wondered if Emily and her son were on that train. He kept on driving, hopefully to make a new record. Veronica would scold him of course, but what could he say he did have a wild streak in him.

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Eric Heinnerman had excused himself to use the _loo,_ but he also took out his cell phone and dialed a number.

"Elise are you there?" He said and a young female voice replied.

"I wasn't expecting you to call so soon….hey Becky hold on I'm on the phone…sorry when are you so supposed to get here? Is Mr. Blake on his way up as well? Mrs. Blake called me an hour ago to say that her husband was on his way," a bubbly and fairly accented voice inquired.

He smiled, Elise Thompson was his apprentice, but worked as an intern as well. Sometimes…well while he and Balthazar away she played babysitter with Becky taking her out when her mother was busy with the shop and all. He was calling to see what she was up to and to make sure she did her assigned work, which of course she usually did.

He could hear in the background, "Is my daddy there?" he had to hold back a smile Becky Blake was a cute little girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, even though she was adopted people didn't believe it. She was a pretty curious girl who liked to dress up nicely and always wore a smile. The blonde hair and blue eyes helped too, since her adopted father shared the same traits too.

Of course she could cause a bit of trouble too, when she asked her father if he could paint his Rolls Royce purple for her birthday. At that notion, Eric had to hold back a chuckle because he was fairly sure a vein in Balthazar's head was about to break, seeing as the eye twitching movements Balthazar made when Becky asked her father.

Balthazar's answer was a resounding no.

"Manchester in about twenty minutes, and then about another thirty is the next train. I expect that Mr. Blake will be there at least a good twenty or so minutes before the train seeing as he is a speed demon," he sourly voiced. He could hear Elise's chuckle.

"You're just a spoil sport because he won't let you drive it," she intoned. He was a grouch seeing at Elise had driven the Phantom once or twice to pick up Becky sometimes when Balthazar or Veronica were a little too busy.

"Well I will see you soon enough," he said and said his goodbyes. He came back to see Emily working on a project of hers. She was drawing Balthazar as a sorcerer, but it was all too coincidental. She said she was originally inspired by her husband and thought something was missing.

If she only knew the truth.

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Emily realized once she got off to Manchester and switched trains to head to her final destination that she forget to get lunch and that the prices on the train for food were overpriced. She put her hand to her face. That was real smart. At least they were able to get sandwiches, which were decent enough but maybe they could get some Indian food. England was known for some good Indian food, but she wasn't sure if up North they would have any good restaurants or not. Or, if Dave would find curry appetizing either.

Eric Heinnerman ended up sitting close to them again and they talked about what it was like living in New York City or London, and even talked to Dave about his favorite movies. He mentioned that he loved _The Sorcerer's Apprentice_ sequence in _Fantasia_ with Mickey and the brooms.

Eric Heinnerman had a funny look when Dave told him that and thought that was _interesting_. She shrugged her shoulders. When they arrived in Hartlepool, Dave and she took a cab to the real estate office where they would pick up their keys for the cottage. There she met in person with the real estate agent who took her car to drive them to the place they were going to stay.

When they were driving into the countryside Dave was looking wide eyed at the scenery and she took in on the hill there was a grand estate, a manor, or castle and the real estate agent Margaret Watters said to her.

"That manor is Gorloison manner-after the manor that lies around three or four leagues west of here. It's been here for a very long time and even though that family doesn't live there anymore, another does it is still a sight to see. But here we are," Margaret told them as they pulled into a little cottage driveway. Emily had to smile.

It was a two story traditional cottage and she loved it. Dave thought it look like a picture, the front lawn needed some work, but she was told she did have a green thumb. She saw the boxes in there and that the local train station was about a quarter of a kilometer down, or around a ten minute walk.

She breathed in the fresh air and signed the final documents and were handed the keys to the cottage. Once inside, they cottage was pre-furnished but they still needed to get some pots, pans, cooking utensils, towels, bedding, and everything. She looked at Dave who was bright eyed and bushy tailed and asked if he was up to go out and do some fun shopping to decorate their new home.

His head nodded vigorously.

What Dave didn't know was that he would meet one blonde hair blue eyed girl who would change his world forever.

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Elise Thompson had long shut her cell phone and looked at the growing girl standing behind her who gave her a sheepish smile.

"Please?" she queried they were in front of _Costa Coffee_ at the local mall in the suburbs outside the main city with Rebecca Blake, her master's not only associate, but also the highest degree sorcerer second to Veronica Blake and…Maxim Horvath in the world.

And she was tasked with babysitting his daughter this afternoon, while her mother was working at the store. It was a really serious job, but at least she did have the upper hand it was not like Becky could get into magical trouble. Well she could when she wasn't allowed to have more than three hot chocolates a week and she was asking for her fourth.

"Becky you know what your mom and dad said," she tried to reason but Becky gave her the never failing puppy eyed dog look.

She gave up.

"Fine, I can do just about anything else (magically) and yet an eight year old girl with puppy dog eyes brings me to my knees," she huffed and it got worse when she saw her friends with their huge sunglasses and fairly fashionable looks and looking at her with Rebecca.

"You're babysitting again? When are you going to come to Manchester and…" her friends talked about the clubbing scene and she pointed that they had a child in their midst. Her friends entered the coffee house and they ordered some coffee while she got a hot chocolate for Becky and she some tea.

Elaine, one of her friends dropped a tabloid on the table and opened it up and proclaimed,

"I'm going to marry him." She put her perfectly manicured finger on a picture of Ewan McGregor. He was an up and coming Scottish actor who played Marc Renton in _Trainspotting_ a movie they all went to see because of the awesome sound track and the rave reviews around two years ago.

"I think he's married Elaine," she said as Becky was looking at the magazine and closed it.

"There are some things that are not appropriate for you yet Becky," Elise said seeing as they did advertise five ways to improve one's sex drive on the front cover. They were talking when they heard a voice, and not accented, well it was American.

Her friends turned their heads to a black haired lady and her son, and Becky saw the boy who blushed when he saw her and her friends whispered in her ear.

"What is an American doing up here? It's not like this is Manchester?" She said as she was drinking her coffee and Becky looked up at her and she ignored her,

"Ay could be visiting family for all we know," Elise inputted. She highly doubted it seeing as they had bags with towels, sheets, and talking to a delivery man to get some more stuff to their house. Elise saw that Becky had run off from her previous spot to go to the boy and his mother.

"Becky, come back here you troublin' lass," she said as she saw Becky enter the coffee store again.

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Rebecca, or Becky, Blake liked Elise Thompson well enough, but she was a teenager who liked to hang out with her friends instead of seeing what she was interested in. Her father was coming back today and she was really excited. He said he had a gift for her, and when he travelled he always brought some small trinket for her. She knew she was adopted, but for her parents were the greatest (and oldest) they had told her who they really were and she promised and pinky swore she would never tell a living soul unless she absolutely had to.

They had smiled at this and her father had told her if for any reason he told her to do something, that she had to follow that order because if he did it would have be for her safety. She nodded her head as serious as she could understand that her parents were trying to find what they called the "Prime Merlinian".

It didn't mean they didn't have time for her though; they raised her as their own. She had her own room in their large manor. She wasn't spoiled rotten, but she did have a large bedroom and she felt like a princess. Her parents made her understand the value of hard work, and that even though they had magic they did a lot of things the old fashioned way…well they did have a washing machine, ice box, and refrigerator…they did move on with the times after all.

When she was bored with Elise and her friends talking about a E-wan Mc-Gre-gor or whatever she saw the boy with messy black hair. He looked around her age and she thought that maybe he would want to play with her. He and what she assumed were his mother entered the coffee shop from shopping.

So, she ran off, but not too far.

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Dave went with his mom and helped her pick out some blue towels for him and realized he packed his _Star Wars_ sheets and that his mom was picking some purple (but she called them lavender) sheets for herself. His mother asked if he wanted some hot chocolate and how could he refuse an offer like that?

His mother talked to a delivery guy who understood they had no car, but was willing to drive the comforters, pillow, and some other things to the cottage a little later when they were done. When walking to _Costa Coffee_ as it was called Dave saw a young girl with blonde hair and blue eyes.

She was pretty and cute and hanging around some much older ladies who were sitting at a table drinking coffee and talking about some guy named Eu-wan Mc-Greg-or or someone like that. When his mother and he entered the coffee shop the girl entered slowly and after they ordered their drinks she came up to him and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hi," she said to him with a light British accent. His mother looked down at the two of them and quirked her eyebrows.

"Hi," he responded back to her seeing as that was the polite thing to do.

"My name's Becky what's your name?" She said with a smile. He frowned. She had blonde hair, blue eyes that look like the ocean, and a button nose. His mother tilted her head to one side.

Becky was pouting at him, oh right he should say something!

"Dave," he said with a smile, or what he tried to think was a good smile and then he saw one of the older girls he saw outside was out of breath and spotted Becky.

"Rebecca Evelyn Blake I swear if you run off again, so help me…" the older girl said when he and his mother eyes widened. He remembered the man he met on the airplane and later that night at the pub.

The woman had mocha (or at least that what his mom called that color) colored hair, and Becky's eyes widened. His mom, though stepped in,

"It's alright she's not hurt I think she just wanted to say hello," his mother breezily uttered. The girl, who Dave thought looked around the age of Bennet's older sister who was in college, just shook her head.

"Sorry if she was botherin' ya miss she tends to do that often," she went to where Becky was and his mother smiled well naturedly.

"It's fine, and did I hear you say her name was Rebecca Blake?" His mom queried and the girl looked at his mother funny.

"Yeah…I did."

Now this was turning a little funny to Dave where she was less amiable and a little exasperated.

"I met her father on the plane in first class and I talked to him for a bit and he gave us his address and said if we needed any help to give him a call, I also found out that he had a daughter around Dave's age," his mother said in a friendly manner.

The other girl however looked a bit shock but tried to appear as understanding.

"Oh, well in that case I think an introduction is in order my name is Elise Thompson," she said and his mother shook her hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you and my name is Emily Stutler and this is my son David, though he likes Dave better," he had to smile at that and his mother smiled in return. Elise gave them a smile, but somehow he wasn't sure if it was real. However Becky pulled his arm and asked him.

"You met my daddy?" She said with enthusiasm. He nodded his head and she smiled.

"Isn't he the best?" Well he really didn't know that much about the man but he just shrugged his shoulders.

She smiled at him.

"Do you want to play?" She asked him and his eyes widened and so did his mother's as well as Elise's.

He never got an invite to play from anyone, except Bennet but they had been friends since they moved to the city his mom told him she met Bennet's mother in yoga or something along those lines and had become fast friends.

Elise looked at his mother and him and back at Becky.

"Don't you have things to do like clean your room you're Daddy will be back anytime soon and I'm sure that he will want to spend the rest of the day with you and your mother," she said but it seemed like Becky was already looking at his mom.

She gave Elise a look, "I don't see why not, Mr. Blake has met my son and even opened up an invitation for Dave if he wanted to play with his daughter," Elise had to school her features to make sure her jaw didn't drop.

"Well, let me get in contact with Becky's mother and see what she says," she took out her cell phone and called up Veronica. Elise told Veronica the situation including with what Balthazar told them and everything. Veronica said she didn't see the harm in it as long as she felt they were not a threat, and they were not. Everything they said felt true.

"Well, are you sure you don't need your son to move in?" Elise said knowing Emily would have to do all the work herself.

"I don't mind, there really isn't much to do," Emily smiled, but then Becky squealed.

"Daddy!"

She took off where a man with a leather trench coat and a wide smile on his face was. Elise turned around to see the sorcerer of the seventh hundred and seventy-seventh degree. Who gave her a small smile.

"Hello Elise I'm hoping she didn't cause you too much trouble since I have been gone and her mother has been working," she looked at Becky who was in her father's arms. For all the running and puppy dog eyed looks Elise would say no.

He understood and turned to see Stutlers there as well.

"Well it seems we keep running into one another doesn't it?" He wryly stated. Emily just shook her head and smiled.

"It seems that way as well, it seems your daughter extended an invite for Dave to come over and play. Is that okay with you, or would you rather …" she started to say but he looked at his daughter, who was whispering in his ear and he smiled.

"You know what that is fine with me, but I have a proposition for you. Seeing as I think you don't have anything to eat tonight why don't you come over to our place for dinner? Dave and Becky can play, and maybe I could help you get Dave in Becky's school, and see if there's anything else I could do for you," he nicely intoned.

All the while Elise looked at Balthazar liked he grown a second head and he turned to her.

"I think I got things from here Elise," he said and handed her two twenty pound notes and whispered in her ear.

"I'll explain things later," and all she could do was nod her head as she saw Dave, his mother, Becky (talking excitedly to Dave), and Balthazar leave the coffee house.

Elise saw them left just realizing in all the years she knew the senior sorcerer, he never openly talked to many people. There had to be another reason why Balthazar was treating them this way, but besides that she could see that Dave was infatuated with the girl. She wondered how he would feel if he knew who her parents really were.

_Till next time…_


	5. Chapter 5

_Hello again :) _

_I thought seeing as I looked over my manuscript and saw that this is a much shorter chapter that I would do a double update. I don't know when I will have the time again, and seeing as I want the story to move ahead it would be better to get some nagging thoughts out of your minds regarding the events in this story._

_Disclaimer: I do not own The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Jerry Bruckheimer and Disney do. I just like to play and practice my writing. That's all. _

_As always constructive reviews and general reviews are welcomed (and motivating factors for faster updates). _

_Enjoy!_

**Chapter Five**

Many women back in New York City would believe the Emily's luck regarding finding a man like Mr. Blake would be a sign of danger. For one, he was into her. A lot of her former coworkers would tell her that he wanted to use her. People just were not as chivalrous like she imagined in her stories and images. Emily thought differently, Mr. Blake seemed like an honest man. Then again, he also had a certain amount of aloofness to him as well.

Emily shook her head when Mr. Blake offered to drive them to their cottage. They put their stuff away and drove them up to his home for dinner. She and Dave put their new purchases away on the couch to come back and do the serious unpacking later. It was four o'clock in the afternoon and Dave already had a playmate on the second day here. It was a sign of good things to come.

She also had to call her mother, Marthie, and Jackie to tell them she was in the UK alright. Emily had bought a phone earlier, but she hoped she could borrow one at the Blake's residence, which happened to be the castle on the hill. Not that she was surprised; he did say that they lived fairly close to the cottage. There wasn't any other building or estate close by than the manor, except for the filled cottages half kilometer down the road. Seeing as she was riding in a Rolls Royce Phantom, it didn't seem the obvious housing arrangement for the man.

When she entered the home, or well castle something spoke to her of the old world as she entered the large halls. The largest house she ever seen, or had been, was her old childhood home in Boston, MA. A two story Victorian style building filled with cinnamon and good cheer during the holidays.

This was completely different with its grand arching stone walkway, and the Renaissance style carpet and knights armor on both sides of the foyer. A winding stone staircase sat towards the left side of the entrance with a rouge carpet filling out the middle steps. There was also a large grate in the old style and a chandelier, but with electric lights. It probably would have looked better with real candles.

"You have a nice home Balthazar," Emily intoned with a bit of awe dripping from her voice. Dave's jaw must have dropped at least a few inches as well. She saw Becky took a hold of Dave's hand and rushed him upstairs, to what she assumed their final destination was her bedroom.

Balthazar though turned his attention to a woman with ivory skin and flowing black hair. She wore a simple silhouette of a dress adorned with a light emerald green satin. This must be his wife Veronica, who looked over at them and smiled.

"You must be Emily, welcome to our home you and your son," she said in a fluid Italian lilted accent. Emily walked to shake her hand and returned the greeting.

She turned away as husband and wife reunited, and a pang of hurt was felt in her heart. She knew what it was to love deeply, and although there was nothing she could do about George's death it still hurt. People told her she needed to move on, to remarry, and to find Dave a father who he could look up to. She shook her head, she loved George too much to find another man to replace him, and she was sure she couldn't love again. She had been on dates several times set up by friends and family, but none of them went further than a kiss. Even those felt like betrayal.

People asked her how could she live without some kind of release, she had a child and that was a euphoric experience enough. She would remember the times George would hold her tenderly, what he did to her, how he made her feel like royalty and a goddess at the same time. Each touch and kiss hummed throughout her body. He made her feel incredible and the things he did…she blushed…well she felt like the world was his and hers and nothing could pull them apart.

Except a gang it seemed.

No one would be able to replace George Stutler.

The happy couple released each other. It seemed that Veronica wanted Balthazar to tell their daughter dinner would be ready in an hour and half, and asked Emily if she wanted something to drink, either some water or some wine.

Well, she was feeling in the mood for a little Chardonnay.

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Veronica was aware her husband had told her they were having company over; it was something that they didn't normally have. It usually was only Eric and sometimes Elise as well. Nobody else.

Rebecca normally went to her friend's houses, not hers. She had asked who was coming over and her husband told her the story. This woman was to be a future employer for the firm, and that she was the one who illustrated the books that Rebecca loved from the states. This was when Veronica understood. She knew what books Balthazar was talking about where the drawing style was much more in the old style than newer, and where the letters were gilded and everything. Rebecca, Becky, Veronica smiled told her she really wanted to meet the person who illustrated the books and Balthazar had told Eric about the illustrator.

Eric of course wanted to bring her on board and so it seemed they were successful in that venture.

She wondered what her husband's other motives were? Bringing people into their lives was something they normally never did. Eric and Elise were both sorcerers in the area, so they were there by proxy, but anyone else?

Sure they were friendly with the people around the area, but they tended to have an air of distantness around themselves. Even at school, Becky was known to have the parents who lived in the castle and everyone thought she was stuck up. It tended to be awkward when Becky was picked up in a Rolls Royce Phantom.

Balthazar and she knew that wasn't the case, but knew that…if the Prime Merlinian wasn't found in the next couple of decades they would lose their daughter to nature, and they hoped they would die before her, as it should be. The thought of their child aging greater than them and they still as youthful as they had been pained them a great deal.

That would mean they would have to find the Prime Merlinian, train the boy or the girl, and have him or her release Morgana to destroy her.

It wasn't something they were looking forward to, at least opening the grimhold again. Horvath had escaped them time and time again and had always tried to get the grimhold from them. They have been looking for him ever since, and he the same for them. When she had heard what happened at Victoria Station from the information she gathered from Balthazar it would seem he was here in England. She wondered if Horvath knew they were here as well? Balthazar didn't know the answers seeing as when he did follow Horvath he didn't know what car he drove, seeing as the last time they had a run in was during the First World War.

As Veronica got a good look at the woman in her kitchen with her black medium length hair holding her wine glass loosely on the table, all the while looking lost in thought. She could see that she cared for her son, the same she felt for her daughter, even if Becky wasn't her blood.

At one point in her life she believed a family was possible, but events happened to see it wouldn't occur as she had planned. The day at the marketplace where she saw the necklace she wore now, with its shining gems, could see Balthazar understood the same thoughts.

It was that very same day the world as she knew if fell apart as Horvath betrayed them all. Morgana killed Merlin, and she and Morgana had almost ended up in the grimhold together. She almost died when Morgana was destroying her from the inside that was till the witch used her power to enter her own body again. Morgana was weak and unprepared for when Balthazar opened the grimhold to capture Morgana, for seeing as the two of them were weak and could not fight for much longer.

Horvath had already run off with 'The Rising' and they had run to Merlin's side, who had told them to work together to find the Prime Merlinian and to hold on to what they had. It would help them in the darkest of times.

Time for them was not what it was to most people; to most it was sacred and valued. To them they had lived far too long to think of life that way. The spell that was cast would not only stop the aging, but would make sure they wouldn't die till the task was done making them truly immortal for the time being.

It was something that many times over the past they had struggled with, and they each had their sour moods and struggles. It felt like they had build up shells around themselves through time seeing events happen over and over, and people not learning from their mistakes or history itself. Too much was happening, and there was only so much they could do. They had both done things they were not very proud of over time in order to live or to get by.

They had travelled the world together going from the North, East, South, and West and seeing the different civilizations for all they had to offer. The two of them had brought the talisman to many candidates, and none came closer than the next. It had been at Balthazar's suggestion that actively searching might not be the best route, seeing as reflecting on their own histories it was them that came to Merlin.

Through two different situations: the rich baroness' daughter fleeing her family for being vastly different, and the young commoner whose gift of friendship with animals of all kinds had brought him to a place where he would feel at home.

It was funny seeing as now they kept up a front, while at the same time were still who they were.

She was the first one to speak.

"Your son seems like a nice young boy," Veronica said lightly and Emily looked up and seemed to get out of her daze and there was a reflective smile on her face.

"Yeah he is, isn't he?" She sighed as she took another sip out of the glass. She had seen the look on Emily's face when Balthazar and she had embraced. She had a pained look, and something told her it was from a loss of a loved one.

Her heart skipped a beat when she lost a good friend, who she loved, just not in the romantic fashion.

She could understand on some deeper level what was going through Emily's head as she cut the tomatoes.

_I can't say when the next update will be, seeing as I have a paper due this week and much more to do. Maybe this upcoming weekend? _

_Cheers :)_


	6. Chapter 6

_In honor of the upcoming holiday, and the fact that I have a three day weekend (yes) I have decided to update! In Canada Thanksgiving is October 10__th__ which is weird compared to the States (which I will be celebrating seeing as I broke down and will be going home for the US Thanksgiving). I know this chapter is short, so I might think about another double update but I am not sure. _

_Disclaimer: I do not own The Sorcerer's Apprentice Jerry Bruckheimer and Disney do._

_Also many wonderful thanks to the awesome __**Spitfire47**__ for the beta-help. _

_**Please do not forget to leave a review! Thank you!**_

**Chapter Six**

Balthazar told Veronica he would be in his 'office', though that wasn't really quite the right word for it. He went down the hallway where he and his wife practiced their honed art. At the end there was a simple door made of dark oak. His hand hovered over the knob and there was a creek, and the door opened at his command.

He walked in and waved his hand again this time torches lit up down the stairs. In the center of the room was the Merlin's circle, a place where a sorcerer mastered spells, but where their power was focused and could be harnessed fully and completely. The _Encantus_ sat on a side table, and within a secret area the grimhold was hidden as well.

There was also a mahogany box sitting and he opened it up, it was Merlin's dragon ring, although looking far more like a dragon figurine. He sighed knowing the enormity of his life settled on such a small, but potent object.

He wondered, and told himself that he should wait. Dave and his mother had just arrived in England, and if Dave was the Prime Merlinian it would do no good to alienate him and his mother, seeing as the Prime Merlinian was supposed to save the world.

He wasn't sure what other options he had, he felt at times as much as he cared about the world at large, he wanted to have what every other person had. Humanity, when most people didn't want to die, he wanted death. He had lived far longer than any human should. Death was something he would welcome gladly.

But…there was Rebecca his daughter and he did want to see her grow up, and for him and Veronica's love to be fulfilled through creating their own child of love.

No, that desire could be fulfilled at a later time. He might have lived far longer than any normal person, but he would live his life the way he wanted to live it, to the fullest. Which included making sure his family was as safe as they could be.

This would only happen if the Prime Merlinian did what he was supposed to do, and he looked onwards toward the door.

He took the box wondering if this was the right decision, but every beat in his heart knew that it was now or never. Horvath was out there, the Prime needed to make himself known. Somehow, either intuitively or magically, he believed him to be here in his house and home.

Sometimes fate dictated itself to be heard, and that the simple life had to be left behind.

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Becky had literally almost pulled his arm out of his socket when she yanked his arm and ran up the stone steps to her room.

He didn't think girls could be so pushy, at least that's the way the other girls in New York were like. They always thought boys smelled funny and he always though girls had cuties, but his mother told him that was all made up so he had a different idea about girls, especially with the likes of Rebecca.

When she opened her door to her room the first thing he saw was her window opened to her backyard, where he saw a stable and a large garden. Next he saw her canopy four poster bed and all the stuffed animals of different teddy bears, stuffed unicorns, and some handmade dolls as well. Her room was dressed in various shades of purple and green, weird colors considering he thought girls always liked pink. The floor was wooden, but with lots of rugs some oriental in nature and others more medieval looking.

He saw that she had drawings all around her room. Most of them were of her parents. Some pictures were just the three of them, her mother, father, and Becky in the center. Then he stumbled upon the one of Becky's father shooting something blue out of his hand, or her mother doing the same.

Well he liked that Becky had an imagination.

"Cool drawings," he said. He wasn't so sure why he said that in the first place. She grinned at this. She went around her bed and went to her bookshelf and took out…

Hey he knew that book! His mother did the illustrations in it.

"This is my favorite book in the whole wide world! My daddy brought it back from the states and told me that he hoped to get the girl who drew these to work for him because she is that good, and my daddy and Mr. Hein-ner-man only like the best of the best. She is the best!" She proclaimed in all her eight year old ways.

Dave just had a goofy smile on his face.

"My mom drew that see," he pointed to her name under illustrator. Becky's jaw dropped.

"She's in my house?" She practically squealed and he had to cover his ears and he nodded goofily. She looked incredibly happy and he liked that. One thing he noticed was that most kids his age had something Disney related but with her, well he didn't see anything.

"You don't have anything Disney," he stated and the girl narrowed her eyebrows.

"My mommy and daddy say that Disney has everything wrong, besides I like their stories better," she said. Then she clamped her hands over her mouth. She looked guilty and turned away from him.

Why would she be guilty? He shrugged his shoulders not too concerned with Becky's behavior; girls would be girls his mother had recited to him on many occasions. Just like his mom told him that some people didn't like Disney either because the person who ran it or the images they sent. Like what? He didn't think dancing teapots or brooms cleaning on their own were a bad thing.

In fact he always laughed at that scene, but then he remembered the face of Mickey's master at the end of the short.

He wouldn't what to be on the receiving end of a look like **that**.

Becky looked at him with a smile, "Let's pretend." She started to pull out clothes from her very large wardrobe. He didn't play pretend a lot, normally board games, card games, playing with action figures, or playing _Mariokart_ on Nintendo 64 with Bennet was what he did for fun, or _Zelda and the Ocarina of Time_. However, that was normally a single player game.

He was open to doing new things, as long this wasn't a tea party he didn't really want to do that.

"Okay…" he said. He saw Becky come back and looked at him with some scrutiny and finally declared,

"I think this will fit you." She said as he caught a brown robe-like-thing. He quirked an eyebrow, the costume looked like a Jedi robe. He got excited maybe she liked _Star Wars _like him.

"Let's pretend that it's the old ages in the time of King Arthur, and I am a Queen Guin-e-vere and you're the just and powerful Merlin. You have to protect me from the evil Morgana," she declared. Immediately, she pointed to a stuffed bear that had a purple dress on it. He looked down at his shoes.

"I don't think I should play Merlin, I'm nothing like him," he mumbled. Becky brought her cool ice eyes to bore into his chocolate brown.

"Why you think that?" She stated thinking this was the most absurd question she ever heard.

"Because I'm not the type, like Bradley from my old school," he said sullenly. Becky sighed grandly in return and gave him a rueful grin.

"We're pretending which means that you might not be Merlin, but you can be if you think it for just this moment. I pretend I'm a sorceress all the time even though I'm not," she said rather crossly and with a whisper of longing. Rather a quick change in expression Dave considered. He had to nod his head at this she did have a point, although was perplexed by her change in tone.

After all the point of pretending was that it wasn't real. They were going to begin, but Becky looked like she forgot something. She ran to her little jewelry box on her dark cherry dresser. Dave saw her rummaged around in it and made an 'ah ha' noise. She came over with a silver ring with an onyx stone embezzled into the ring, or what his mother told him was onyx, stone in it and she also looked at his shoes. Becky went to her closet and found some black, pointy, girl shoes.

"Here you need a ring if you're going to be Merlin and pointy shoes, you can't do magic without them," she said and he looked at her with a confused look.

"Why do I need pointy shoes? Besides these are girl shoes and I don't think I would be able to fit in them," he said. His mother did tell him he had rather small feet for a boy his age so he might, but still they were a more girly version of 'old man shoes'. Becky looked at him with a serious look, which he found sort of funny considering her button nose was scrunched up and it was fairly cute.

"Because it blocks the current, at least that's…. I mean…any who just go with it," she said finally after stumbling over the sentence. He gave Becky another confused look, but wanted to make her happy.

He took that back girls _were_ pushy, he put on the shoes at Becky's insistence. They pinched his toes but she looked elated. She dictated what happened and what the story was that he was escorting her back to Camelot to see King Arthur, her beloved husband, but Morgana attacks and he has to keep her safe. Becky tells him to protect her by throwing up a shield and as an offense to throw something she called a plasma bolt.

Becky had a very active imagination he surmised, but he found he liked this game. Where he was saving Becky's life and Becky squealed that he defeated Morgana. After the game she looked rather upset as she put away the teddy bear and removed the dress and sat on her bed.

He wasn't sure what was up with her.

"Can I sit on your bed Becky," he said and she nodded morosely. He sat down beside her and saw some hair in her face, and just took his hand to move a couple of strands back. He could see some tears starting to form in her eyes.

"Why are you sad? We just beat Morgana isn't that a good thing?" He queried. She looked back at him, and then turned her attention to her shiny black school shoes. Her legs swung back and forth on her bed. She saw his hand move away from her face and he slightly blushed, she did as well.

"It is…but it's not real," she said sulkily.

He didn't get what she meant.

So he replied, "Well it might not be real but we don't have to worry about Morgana because she isn't real. It was only pretend, so come on what else do you like to do?" He asked and she got a board game out and said, but not to Dave quietly.

"If only," Becky said. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and Becky's father peeped inside. Dave saw Becky had a quick moment of flushed red cheeks.

"Dinner is ready," he said. His eyebrows raised in amusement, and an undertone of anxiety at what Dave and Becky were wearing.

"What have you two been doing?" He asked and Becky replied, "Pretending." Becky looked down at her shoes and Dave saw her father nodded.

"Uh huh, don't forget to wash your hands and to put back your 'pretend' costumes in your wardrobe." He said then looked at Dave, "What would you like to drink for dinner?" Dave answered milk. He knew his mother would give him the look that says if he didn't have his milk he couldn't get dessert. Balthazar just nodded in acceptance, but looked back at the scene with an odd look in his eye. He didn't know what Becky's father was thinking, but something told him that look in his eye meant something.

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Dave being the oblivious eight year old didn't know that Balthazar had heard the entire pretend mission, and Dave and Becky's ensuing conversation. He had the box in the pocket of his leather jacket and was planning after dinner to see if Dave was truly the one.

_You're welcome and I hope you enjoyed this chapter._

_I should also note I am learning French, and since I am trying to immerse myself to get used to the language I decided to try something. I decided to watch SA in French dubs, and I'll just say this. It takes some getting used to because of the voices and sometimes don't match how they should, but in some instances like Dave getting rescued by Balthazar the dialogue is punchier with "Maintenant! Allez!" (At least regarding commands, and there are a lot of those in this movie). _

_Also I should say anything remotely dealing with romance or love is ten times more meaningful in French. Just seriously take my word for it. I'll say they didn't do too badly with Dave's voice; Balthazar was hard because I like Nic Cage's voice for Balthazar. Some parts the French dub caught up on the subtle nuances better than Nic did, other times he completely missed the mark (the French dub). _

_However I should say Bennet's voice is really weird and I dislike the voice for Horvath and Drake. Morgana was really good (in my opinion better than Alice Kringe in terms of voice). Also, Becky was too high pitched for me. Andre (the guy at the radio station) probably had the perfect voice even if it was for one tiny line when Becky runs in to the station. _

_Anyways, I just thought that was interesting. _


	7. Chapter 7

_In celebration of mid-terms being over and the fact that I feel the need to update this story, ta da! Chapter Seven :)_

_As always, I do not own The Sorcerer's Apprentice or related characters. They are property of Jerry Bruckheimer and Disney._

_Many wonderful thanks to __**Spitfire47**__ for the beta help and feedback. _

_Again, constructive reviews, critiques, and general reviews are greatly appreciated and welcomed! Please enlighten me with your thoughts and questions :) _

**Chapter Seven**

Emily found herself wondering where in the world Veronica had learned to cook, considering the food was superb. Emily knew her sister back in the states was more than an adept cook since she went to the culinary institute and taught her how to cook for herself and Dave. She thought no one could compare to her sister. She was wrong, obviously.

It was probably practice, and lots of it.

She still felt oddly out of place considering Becky asked her father how his trip to New York City went. He said it was quite successful, and Becky all through dinner was looking at her like she was some famous movie star. She wasn't sure exactly why and had to hide the blush creeping up on her face. Praise came not as often as one expected for her.

She wasn't Drew Barrymore or Sandra Bullock.

She wondered why, maybe it was because both she and her son were from across the pond. Certainly being in a place where a lot of foreigners don't normally go could add some excitement to her life. It seemed that Becky was very interested in what New York was like and asked her father. He answered that he should ask Dave or his mother because they used to live there.

That was a fifteen minutes ago, but now they were on dessert and she saw a flash of a gold cover of a hardback book that Mr. Blake pulled from his satchel that he had brought to dinner.

She knew that book. The cover illustration she had illustrated herself, and when Becky saw it her smile lit up and she know knew why she was excited.

It seemed Becky was a fan of her work, and learned from Dave that she drew the illustrations. She had a black marker in her purse and got out of her seat and asked Becky if she wanted her to sign it for her.

Becky looked like she died and went to heaven. Her father, all the while, had an amused look on his face when she personalized it for Becky.

After Becky was done asking her all sorts of questions, mostly referring to how she got so good at drawing (her response: lots and lots of practice) and helped the Blakes clear the table. She saw that it was fairly dark outside and grimaced. She knew that it wasn't probably a smart idea to socialize on the first day of move in and they had a lot of things to do, her son and she as well as Mr. Blake and his family. She wouldn't be starting her job till Tuesday officially considering she did need some move in time and getting used to the time zone.

After dinner it seemed that Becky had once again whisked her son away and told her that Becky wanted to show him something and she nodded that was alright with her. She said she would help Veronica with the dishes, even though she said they were their guests she would have none of it.

She asked what Veronica did for a living and told her she ran a small antiques shop down in the main square of the village. She also asked where Veronica learned to cook.

At this Veronica just shrugged her shoulders and said she had a _long_ time to learn. Emily just brushed it off, but she couldn't get the feeling that there was something deeper to her answer. Her mind also jumped that she needed to call her mother and asked Veronica if she could use her phone for a long distance call.

Veronica nodded her head and said it was fine and directed her to a handset and picked up the phone and dialed the necessary numbers and on the other line was her mother.

"Oh Emily I was wondering when you would call so you're in England safe I assume, I heard what happened at Victoria Station, people think it's a terrorist attack," her mother breathlessly told her. Emily her knew her mother was a little worried, and she assured her that she was fine.

She talked to her mother about the first class upgrade and her mother stopped her. "Oh I forgot to tell you, Marthie is in town we were just having tea and I think she wants to say hi," she said. Emily smiled.

Marthie Stutler was George's younger sister, and probably the only relative on his side of the family she kept in contact with. George's family hadn't been big on her marrying their son, although they let it happen for his sake. She always got the sense that she wasn't good enough or something else.

He had come from old money and she was an art student, his family was originally from England as well, in the southeast. She was an American, apparently not a very promising future in their eyes.

That was all old, and the fact is that Marthie was there for her and Dave while the rest of the family just left the funeral and didn't say a word. She at first thought it was grief, but after a few weeks and months and not even a birthday card for Dave she ended up calling Marthie to see what was going on.

Marthie had just told her that they were worried about her and Dave. They thought it would be better to break contact, even though Marthie believed this was silly. Eventually, Marthie moved out west to help them out, saying that if no one else in her family was going to help out she might as well seeing as George was her favorite brother and she loved Dave with all her heart.

She was probably one of the only people who could really understood her grief and told her that her family had their own problems to deal with and they didn't want to get _them_ involved. George had been pretty tight lipped about a lot of things, including his past and growing up in England. He told her he came to America to find his own life, and that is just what he did.

She ended up talking to Marthie about the Blakes and that was when Marthie went quiet, very quiet.

"Marthie?" She queried and it seemed that Marthie got out of whatever she was in, but she didn't sound wholly there. She wondered what was going on and asked Marthie what was bothering here.

She asked her to say their names again and what they looked like. Well this was unexpected and told her to the best of her ability and there was silence. Marthie said she had to go and gave the phone back to her mother.

Well that was the first time Marthie ever acted odd, it was normally the rest of them besides George who did that to her.

"Mom what is up with Marthie?" She said and her mother said she hadn't clue seeing as Marthie picked up her jacket and bolted. She told her mom what she told Marthie about and her reaction was much different saying how lucky she was to find a man who would help them out and a playmate for Dave already? That was certainly something.

She had to agree to that, it was certainly _something_.

Emily wondered what was up with her sister-in-law? It also seemed that Balthazar disappeared again to his office. She knew that a man who lived in a house like this and owned a car like his he was bound to a workaholic.

She just hoped that Becky got to see her father a lot more than George did when he was growing up. Emily remembered George telling her his father was always away for his job, but he understood the reasons seeing as he was being groomed to do the same.

She just shook her head at this, and wondered what it was with families training their second generation to go into a business or whatever. Luckily it seemed that George broke away from that tradition when he came to the states, and eventually fell in love with her.

That seemed so long ago, even if it was only seven years ago. She sighed and remembered how late it was.

It was only nine o' clock, but that was late for Dave to stay up. She told Veronica that she and Dave should get going, it was late after all. Veronica nodded her head to go get her husband, who already entered into the kitchen. She said that she and Dave should get going and was wondering if he would be able to drive them back to their cottage. Balthazar asked how much they needed to do before they would be ready for the night, considering everything Emily internally winced.

They needed to clean the sheets and towels. She refused to sleep on out of package sheets and wouldn't dare have the store bought towels touch Dave's skin before they were washed.

They also had to set the clocks around the house, as well as the alarm clocks they either bought or shipped over.

She also wanted to clean the bathrooms before they used them for the first time, considering it was the sanitary thing to do.

She had a lot of work and she was already tired at the current hour, and knowing her son would feel the same.

It seemed that Balthazar picked up on this. It was late, and Balthazar ever pragmatic thought it would be better for them to stay the night. This was when she got a little uncomfortable.

She knew the man for what? Two days at max. It was one thing to sit with someone and talk to them on the airplane, and another to share that a dinner at a pub, and even the dinner and play date was pushing it.

They seemed like a lovely bunch, they really did, but she wasn't sure. She heard stories about starry eyed Americans in another country getting into things that were than they imagined. Nice house, nice car, a daughter who lived the princess lifestyle.

What if this was a Coppala film? What if his 'firm' was really a family business of killing? What was she thinking? This wasn't _The Godfather_ for peat's sakes! It was late and she was tired her ever constant creativity getting in the way sometimes.

She voiced her concerns that she didn't have a toothbrush or a nightgown. Balthazar said they had extras, and that Veronica wouldn't mind lending her something. Emily piped up that her son wouldn't have anything to wear but his day clothes, and Balthazar didn't seem too worried. He told her that maybe some of Becky's baggier none pink or purple related clothes might fit him. That or he would be able to _do_ something to fix that problem.

She said that was fine as long as Dave and she could be in the same room. He led her to a very nice guest room with a queen bed. Balthazar said that they did have another room across the hall with a twin bed if Dave wanted his own room. Emily nodded at this and said that she should get Dave from Becky's room and tell him it was time to get ready for bed. Balthazar said he would be able to get Dave and bring him back here seeing as she was pretty tired and boy did she look it.

The wine that she had was starting to get to her anyways, and she replied to Balthazar she would probably be asleep within the next ten minutes. She asked Balthazar to tell Dave that and she wouldn't mind if he fell into bed just as she was about to do. He nodded at his.

.

.

.

But he had no intention of bringing Dave back to his mother just yet…or there could be another tactic to use.

_Sorry for the short chapter, I promise the next one will be much longer :) _


	8. Chapter 8

_I know this is an extremely short chapter; it is why I am planning on putting up my next chapter very soon. Otherwise, this November I am going to be extremely busy so updates will not be as often as I would like, so I want to catch them where I can. _

_Disclaimer: I do not own "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer do. _

_Beta help is thanks to the super awesome __**Spitfire47**_

_As always constructive reviews, critiques, and general reviews are always appreciated._

_Enjoy_

**Chapter Eight**

Dave was really tired and he could see that Becky was too. She was already for bed, with her silk nightgown and her blonde hair spilling down her ponytail. She looked…he didn't know what to say cute. Seeing her eyes wide and blue with wonder made his heart skip a beat. He was sappy.

Becky had been talking to him about her school and how she liked it, especially music. She showed him her violin and played a tune for him. He didn't recognize it, but his mother would say it was something classical. She was mighty good, even when she did mess up a few times.

He asked her if she knew of _Fantasia_ and the song that accompanied the animated short of Mickey as a sorcerer's apprentice. At this Becky froze, but he took it as she had no idea what he was talking about and he explained it to her and she relaxed, if just a smidgen.

It was the second time that Becky acted strangely during that night.

There was a knock at the door, and for the second time Becky's father, Balthazar, entered and told Becky it was time for bed. He then turned to him to tell him that his mother was fairly tired and he suggested the two of them stay the night. For the reason that all the stuff they had to do back at the house would take a few hours before they would be able to sleep. Dave nodded and knew if his mother was okay with this, then he was as well. Balthazar led him to a room across from his mother and told him she was asleep. He walked into the room and saw p.j's on the bed and a toothbrush and toothpaste in the bathroom.

Dave was sleepy and rubbed his eyes and said thank you to Balthazar who closed the door. He got out his clothes and put on the pj's, brushed his hair, brushed his teeth, and climbed into the warm bed and his eyes drooped closed into a black oblivion.


	9. Chapter 9

_Next installment and I have a feeling a lot of you were waiting for this one. :) _

_Also, again sorry for another short chapter it's been awhile since I have looked at my ending chapters of part one and I realize they are much shorter compared to the rest of my other chapters. So, if I have time I might put up the next chapter. It's just that I have a lot of things to do._

_As always, I do not own "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer do. _

_Thank you to __**Spitfire47**__ for the awesome beta work. _

_As always reviews are greatly appreciated! Thanks!_

_Enjoy_

**Chapter Nine**

Dave opened his eyes because something felt off and he saw on the side table there was a digital clock with red letters reading

**2:15 AM**

He wondered why he was up at this hour. He wondered if it was because he needed to use the restroom. When he went to the bathroom and used the toilet he tried to fall back asleep. He didn't. The same feeling came again.

It was like something inside of him wanted to be awakened, and he wasn't sure why he thought that.

He saw that there were some slippers beside the bed; he didn't think he saw those before and shook his head. He was still a bit tired, but he felt more wide awake then he should be considering the hour. He also grabbed a robe as well that was on the desk and knew that wasn't there when he went to bed, but despite that just took it. It was a bit cold after all.

A flashlight sat by the robe as well.

This was getting weird, but despite everything his head was telling him he wanted to figure out why he couldn't go back to sleep, and why his body was acting this way. He felt a light buzz tickle his veins, not like they were asleep, but something else entirely.

He turned the flashlight on and opened the door to a dark hallway. He tiptoed across the hallway and peeked into his mother's room and saw that she was still asleep. He poked at her to see if she would be awake, but she wasn't. He knew it must have been the wine because it always makes his mom really sleepy and dead as a doorknob when she went to bed.

So he trudged on his feet shuffling through the stone hallways, and to be honest there were some pretty weird things in this house that he didn't pay attention to earlier like different sculptures and draperies, especially one of a really, really old man with his arms outstretched. He looked at it and just shrugged his shoulders. Although the man's eyes in the drapery Dave felt were starring right at him. Spooked he continued on his way.

He didn't know where he was going but somehow he came to find himself in a darker part of the castle, and he felt a little afraid and came upon a door. At first he wanted to see what was inside and that it was locked.

He shrugged his shoulders and started walking away when he heard a click. The door cracked open. He was a little freaked and brought his flashlight around and saw that there was nobody there. Any kid should run in this situation seeing as doors opening on their own accord was a sign that a ghost was there, or something bad was going on.

The feeling in his veins came back and told him to go downstairs, and somehow he complied. He kept his flashlight on and crept down the steps slowly just like Elmer Fudd when he was hunting Bugs Bunny. At the bottom he took his flashlight across the room and gasped at what he saw.

Not only was the room large and expansive, but what caught his sight and his amazement was the engraving in the middle of the floor. It was a large circle and held many circles within it. Within those circles a strange design was placed in each circle. Truth be told, it should scare the wits out of him, but strangely he felt like he was coming home.

Dave whipped his head around because he thought he heard something, but shook his head. He took his flashlight where he thought he saw something move and saw that it was only black and there was a bookshelf. He walked around the room and saw a cleared table with a single solitary box sitting on top of it.

It was weird, why was a single box sitting along the edge of the table? He walked up to it slowly making sure his flashlight gave him enough light to see. He came to the box, which was intricately detailed. His hand touched the box and felt the different indentations on the surface and whistled.

He might not be an artist like his mom, but his mom did tell him what detail looked like. He opened up the box to find—

A silver dragon statuette. Dave starred in awe at the intricate metal work and the luminescent green gem sitting on its back.

Odd.

He shined his light on it and saw that the green stone was really striking. He couldn't quite place why he put down the flashlight on the table but did. He wanted to get a closer look at the ring seeing as he could make out some words on it, but he couldn't see what they said.

So, as any ordinary child would do with a curiosity streak he took the figurine out of the box and held it in his hand and saw the words:

_Take me up, cast me away_

When he whispered those words, that feeling he had earlier was explosive and the dragon statuette it…it…

Came alive, the dragon shook itself out and moved itself to his finger, therefore settling itself as it wrapped itself around his finger. The coolness of the metal touched his skin and a feeling washed over him like this was meant to be on his finger, and he almost could feel a tangible energy singing through his veins like all he had to do was—

His thought process stopped when suddenly the lights in the room came alive in a dim and eerie glow. In the center of the circle he saw the same man he had come to known. Maybe not as Balthazar had a mysterious smile on his face and said to him,

"I've been looking a long time for you David Stutler." Somehow Dave thought those were the last words he wanted to hear right now.

_And…you will probably hate me for this cliffhanger. _


	10. Chapter 10

_I am terribly sorry for the shortness of this chapter, but the last three have been far shorter than the majority of my chapters. It's just how it worked out. Anyways, it will be awhile, probably quite awhile before my next update. I have a lot of work to do regarding university for the next month and half. I am still planning on finishing this part._

_This is a two part story, the first part is already written. The second part the majority of it is written, however it needs to be finished. My Christmas break project most likely. _

_Disclaimer: I do not own "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer do. I just write for fun that is all._

_Again, many wonderful thanks to __**Spitfire47**__ for the beta help._

_As always reviews are greatly welcomed!_

_Enjoy!_

**Chapter Ten**

Emily Stutler realized that it was two o'clock at night. Also to be noted, five to ten minutes ago her son was in her room because the door was cracked open. She rubbed her eyes and saw that it was two twenty currently.

She wondered why she was up to begin with and sighed wondering how Dave was doing. He wasn't on her side of the bed, and the pillows weren't changed. So, he must have wanted to sleep in the other room with the twin bed then. She crept over to his room and opened the door to see how he was doing.

Dave wasn't in there and she quirked her eyebrows at this. She saw his clothes thrown on a chair in the corner and turned on the light to find that he wasn't anywhere else in the room.

She wondered where he would have gone seeing as the bathroom light was off. She went back to her room and turned on the light and wondered if there was a flashlight around. She wanted to know where her son was, and her heart skipped a beat to make sure he was safe.

She wondered where he must have gone too, and she found in the closet there was one of those big flashlights that one could use for an emergency and she grinned. She just hoped that she wouldn't wake anyone up.

She snorted. Like anyone would be up at this hour—besides Dave that is. She wondered if he was sleepwalking or something, he didn't before. Although, she knew that big changes could cause different after affects with kids.

She just hoped he didn't hurt himself or anything. She wondered where she should start considering this was a large manor and during the twilight hours.

She sighed sometimes kids could be more work than they needed to be, but in the end she did love being a mother. She shuffled past the Blake's bedroom, and saw the door was creaked open. There was an empty spot next to Veronica.

Emily furrowed her eyebrows Balthazar was **still **working? Nevertheless, in hindsight that is what you get when you are married to your job: long hours, a lot of pay, and close to no life. What a shame. He did seem to love his daughter and wife a lot. He was also a kind man, but Emily thought that there was something about him; she just couldn't exactly say what.

She shook her head of those thoughts and wanted to be focused on the job at hand, where did her son go? Maybe he should wear a striped shirt next time with white and red stripes and should have named him Waldo. She grinned; Dave had always liked those books in his younger years.

It was bitter within the manor and brought her sleepwear closer to her thinking that it was going to help her warm up. Her teeth chattered lightly and wondered where the heat was.

It didn't help that she was barefoot either and stone steps. She took it in stride and just hoped that Dave didn't get himself into any trouble. She found as she was looking around the manor things she didn't spot before became apparent.

The Blake's were certainly…eclectic in their art tastes. She passed a textile design of a much older man with letters in the background in a language she didn't understand. She shook her head. _To each his own_ she always was told her in her youth.

Personally, she just liked prints of Georgia O'Keefe's works in her apartment or house. Flowers over an old man. She also saw that there were many strange things on the walls the farther from the foyer she got. She came to a hallway and at the end there was a door with a faint light coming through it. The door wasn't closed and she took a peek inside.

She wasn't sure what to think, there were candles around the room lit and she could see a figure standing in a center of …some kind of circle.

Then she saw her son who was shaking and she could see a glint of green on his finger. She tried to be quiet wondering who this man was, but she tried to hide herself against the stone steps and she took a peak and saw that it was Mr. Blake in the center of the circle.

If she didn't know any better she would think this place looked like the perfect place for a cult meeting, but that wasn't what was worrying her.

It was the words that came from Mr. Blake's lips,

_I've been looking a long time for you David Stutler_

A parent's worst nightmare is to hear those words in that sequential order, but for some reason she would have screamed her son's name but she didn't. Her fear for her son was inhibiting her from doing what she needed to do.

The room was at a standstill.

_Till next time…_


	11. Chapter 11

_Hello there :)_

_Well the semester is finally over, and now I have finals. It's been and up and down semester. I'm not sure if I'm going to say it was my best because it wasn't, but definitely there were high points (currents of political thought being the peak). Anyways, I'm writing more original stories as of late. Although, this part of the story is complete. There aren't too many chapters left before Part two, which to be honest is only 1/3 of the way written. You tell me if after the completion of the story if you want to see it. _

_Disclaimer: I do not own "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer do (although to be fair it was originally Nic's and his friend's idea…) _

_Reviews are greatly appreciated_

_Many thanks to **Spitfire47** for the beta help!  
><em>

_Enjoy! _

**Chapter Eleven**

Balthazar Blake would say he wasn't playing by all the rules as fairly as he should, considering that he had asked Veronica to add something to Emily's wine that night. Nothing that would harm her just put her into a deeper state of unconsciousness when she was sleeping that night.

It was going to be hard enough to get Dave to understand the greater nature of the world. At eight years old was a ripe age to train a young sorcerer, but at the same time human nature would be entwined. If Dave was the heir of his master's power this would be new to him, unless someone in his family had a background in the art.

When he was sure Dave was asleep he left a robe and slippers for the boy by his bedside. If his hypothesis was correct that Dave being near magic would awaken his inner-being calling out to who he was.

The ring.

Merlin's dragon ring held a lot of power and was a key focuser of magical energies. For someone with Merlin's power he or she would intuitively be drawn to that power like a moth to a flame. He was taking a very large chance, but he somehow knew it would pay off.

He set the box down on an empty table. There would be no distractions when Dave would imminently come down to this room, where the power of the Merlin circle thrummed with power even when it wasn't activated.

Before that he had told Veronica what his thoughts were about Dave. She had said if he was the Prime Merlinian, then he must do what he believes is right. Veronica understood this would be easier if it was one rather than two people. It would be a bit overwhelming. He made sure Becky was asleep, knowing she was dreaming of times long since passed and maybe of a young boy with black hair.

But was he building up his hopes, dreams, and thoughts over one boy? Dave was a special boy that was for sure, and Becky's attentions were grabbed by him as well. The mother was of a common upbringing, not that it influenced who became a sorcerer or who did not. There were many factors, when Elise had found out Eric had told him that he used the old (and very outdated) thought that the human could only access ten percent of the mind and a sorcerer had the ability to use the entire mindset.

Elise was scientifically minded, and it helped her at least till she got the groundwork to understand that there were many other factors as well. Not that he would get into that conversation.

He waved the candles off and stepped into the shadows and waited for the boy to come, which if he had magic would be imminent. As the hours ticked by he was wondering if Dave would come, but if the boy had magic in his veins his magic would be attracted to the Merlin's circle and he would be here, when the time came.

He heard the jostling of the doorknob that he locked and waited a few second before he directed his will at the door to open, which it did. About a third of a minute later Dave kept his flashlight in front of him and he hid behind the shadows.

Dave walked nervously down the stone stairs, and he could see some of his face from the light of the flashlight and he saw some fear…and curiosity in the boy's face. When Dave had finally descended the steps he waved his flashlight around the room. He had moved the _Encantus_ from its previous position to make sure Dave didn't see it just yet.

The boy's eyes widened when he saw the Merlin circle, and he gave a small smile. The boy had it; the only way he knew for sure was to see if the ring would react to him. The reason how he knew was he could feel the energy permeating the room to his finely trained magical senses, and Dave wouldn't feel it the way he did.

Dave would believe there was something special about this place. He moved from his hiding position to get closer to Dave.

Maybe not a smart move, when he made a little bit of noise and Dave picked up on it. Luckily, he still wasn't seen and the boy's short attention span was turned to the box sitting on the table. He saw Dave walk the few short steps to the old oak table, and the mahogany box. He opened it to reveal Merlin's ring, in its statuette form.

He moved swiftly out of his current spot to the center of the Merlin's circle knowing by memory where everything was so he wouldn't trip in the dark. That would be embarrassing, a fourteen hundred year old sorcerer tripping over a chair in the dark. He grimaced at the thought.

He saw Dave put down his flashlight and picked up the dragon ring, and turned it over and his anticipation was building. In his head he was saying:

_Read the inscription!_

To his pleasure he heard the boy's whisper and saw the dragon react.

All those years of searching were finally over, and in his home was the boy who inherited Merlin's powers.

A boy who was extremely scared, but he waved his hand for the candles to light the room giving an eerie glow to the chambers. He saw Dave turn around, and either out of fright and or curiosity just stood there looking at him with wide, innocent eyes and he smiled mysteriously.

"I've been looking a long time for you David Stutler."

No words rung truer than those. What he didn't notice however was that there was a woman with black hair and her eyes wide with disbelief and fear for her own son above them.

His attention was on a four foot seven inch form whose whole body was trembling out of nervousness, disbelief, fear, and…something else.

He walked forward.

"I have searched far and wide David, and _magically_ here you are. That ring is very special Dave, that ring means that one day you are going to be one of the greatest sorcerers who's ever lived," he spoke every word clearly and with such conviction to make sure that Dave knew it to be true as well.

The expression on his face was one of normalcy where any boy when hearing the impossible would be quick to believe that it is indeed false, however in this one instance it certainly was not.

The boy stared at him as if he had two heads. Understandable, the belief that magic was ludicrous had been instilled seeing as the war between the two major schools of magic were kept in the shadows of history since the death of Merlin.

For better, or for worse, the boy had to understand, but something stopped him in his tracks when he was going to explain to Dave further…when he heard a voice he believed to be asleep. Both Dave and his attention were turned to a female with black hair, eyes that spoke of fear, and a body stance that oozed incredibility.

He was hoping this could wait till later this morning, at a more decent hour.

Dave Stutler called out for his mother and ran towards her and they were about to leave the room before he could get to them, but he knew what must be done.

He locked the door with his magic.

When Emily tried to open the door or budge it open she found she couldn't and looked back at him with wide, frightened eyes.

"Let us leave," she practically gritted out of fear and desperation. Balthazar saw herself positioned in front of her son.

Unfortunately, he could not do that. Not when the object of his affections for over fourteen hundred years was only a few meters in front of him.

"Please let me explain," he said rather calmly and held his hands in a sign that he meant no harm.

However locking the door from the bottom of the stairwell didn't do any favors for him. Emily looked hurt in those eyes, and he knew that he didn't tell her who he fully was. But did you really know someone you just met two days ago?

He was appalled that she believed he had less than honorable intentions towards her son, but understood from an outside perspective this was fairly abnormal. When one lived through the times, he _thought_ mass murder was abnormal, and that one finding out who they truly were wasn't.

"What is there to explain I'm not going to be staying in a house and allow my son to be talking to a crazy man," she said and picked up Dave in her arms. Balthazar believed her thinking was she was protecting her son from some unknown enemy…or him. This certainly bothered him; she was making this so much more difficult than it needed to be.

And for the record he wasn't crazy…slightly insane yes, but not crazy. The jury was still out on that…for the moment.

"Emily the door is locked you won't be able to open it, and before you get any crazy ideas please let me just explain to you why…" he didn't get a chance to finish his sentence when she grabbed a Swiss army knife from her pocket.

What in the world? Why did she bring a Swiss Army knife in her pajamas of all things?

"Stay back Mr. Blake, or if that's just a cover up leave me and Dave alone allow us to leave your house and nothing will happen," she scoured up her courage while her son buried his face into her neck. He would have laughed at how humorous this scene was seeing that Emily was struggling with her hold on Dave, on the stairs, and trying to defend herself with a Swiss Army knife.

Like that was really going to do anything to him.

There were two ways to proceed: to let her and her son go, allow them to run back to her cottage. Then what? She had a job here; she didn't have one back in New York City. What were people going to say to her about this whole incident?

Second, to not let them go and to somehow get through Emily's natural defenses of a mother bear whose sole instinct is to protect her son. He had to tell her that Dave is probably one of the most special boys in the world, considering he is the heir to an incredible power and all he wants to do is train the boy to defeat the worst evil the world has ever known.

To be quite honest with himself if he was going to look at this situation through a critical eye he would run as well.

That is if he didn't grow up to be Balthazar Blake, sorcerer of the 777th degree, one of the three (then two) trusted apprentices of the just and powerful Merlin.

He had to make sure the both of them saw that, he didn't want to do anything that would make him look like the bad guy here.

He was also desperate; he had an incredible amount of patience for a man who has lived close to fifteen centuries. After that long, people would believe he would have gone more than just stir crazy. But right in front of him was the boy would defeat Morgana, or had to. Once he got some training of course.

"I'm sorry Emily but I cannot allow you and your son to leave," he said rather sadly. She needed to understand and he knew it wouldn't be easy.


	12. Chapter 12

_Hi didn't think you would be seeing an update so soon now did you? _

_Well after two finals down and one more to go that's on Monday, I've had my fair share of using my noggin today. So, I wanted to sit down and do something relaxing and thought I'm very close to finishing this first part so I should finish up. _

_Yay!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own The Sorcerer's Apprentice Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer do! Although, I should mention that Goethe probably should get a mention because his poem started the whole thing then Paul Dukas…_

_I am rather sorry for the shortness of the chapter, but part one has only one more chapter to go then part two! _

_Reviews greatly appreciated :) _

_Many thanks to __**Spitfire47**__ for the beta help!_

**Chapter Twelve**

Dave wondered what someone would do if they ever found themselves in his situation.

He had just met a man, Balthazar, two to three days ago. First, he met him on an airplane with his mother, then that night for they had dinner at the pub. A day and half later, he was in this mess.

Yep, too good to be true. Note to Dave: never trust strangers with black trench coats it can never lead to anything good.

Here he was standing in this room with his face full of fright and a dragon ring on his finger. Balthazar Blake looked at him as if he was the most important person in the world. It was the kind of feeling any kid wanted to have that you're special and you're important, but another part of him wondered if it was a genuine feeling. Considering the things he saw he wasn't so sure. Balthazar came striding forward, and Dave was still too shocked to speak. He saw Balthazar fall down on his knees and put his hands on his shoulders. Balthazar's spoke volumes about what his feelings regarding the situation.

Dave wouldn't lie; this was freaking him out a lot worse than any scary movie Bennet would infamously play during their Halloween spook fest. Balthazar told him that he had been looking a long time for him, and that the ring on his finger meant he was going to be a sorcerer.

But _they_ weren't real, sorcerers or wizards. Magic wasn't real, at least he knew that. Magicians had tricks, all smoke and mirrors his mother had told him. Even the card tricks they did as well were a slight of hand and nothing but an illusion. But—

What if Balthazar was telling him the truth? Didn't he just see the ring move on its own accord? Once the ring stopped moving on his finger, Dave could feel that something was different a slight thrumming through his body.

It was like it was meant to be worn by him and—

His mom appeared at the top of the stairwell stricken with a cold fear only a mother would know, and Balthazar's attention was diverted to her. He did what any sane kid would do in his situation—he ran to his mother. He jumped the stairs two at a time, all the while Balthazar was shocked but saw him sprint forward and yelled for him to stop. His mom was here to save him, and he would leave with her. He didn't pay much attention too Balthazar, only his final goal of reaching his mother's side. She grabbed him and was about to head out the door—

It locked on its own accord. Dave saw Balthazar with his hands stretched out in concentration, and _genuinely_ looked sorry for what he was doing. His mother could see he was frightened as well with the situation he had been in. He wasn't sure how everything changed so quickly. She had picked him up and moved him to her side as well as trying to place herself as a shield in front of Balthazar.

Balthazar said that he meant no harm; his mother on the other hand had another idea. He saw her pull out her Swiss Army Knife (albeit with a little trouble since she was juggling him as well). She always liked to have around with her, and directed it at Balthazar. Who had an amused look on his face considering the image of his mother with her son wrapped around her body and here frail arm shaking a two and half inch knife, but at the same time had a look of deep desperation along the furrows of his face.

Balthazar wanted to explain what was going on, and to be honest Dave wanted to know what was going on too. His mother, he could see, was worried for him and didn't want to listen to Balthazar. Here's the thing Balthazar didn't hurt them, and if he could explain why the ring did what it did then they could move along. After all if he used magic to close the door, he could do worse things than that couldn't he? He gulped at the thought; he didn't want to become a pig who just loves science.

"I'm sorry Emily I cannot allow you or your son to leave," Balthazar said to them and his mother had a pained look on her face. He wouldn't put it pass his mother to go all mama bear on Balthazar, Dave had seen it before with some of his teachers in the past.

It wasn't a pretty sight.

Seeing as it was him that caused all this, it was his fault that his mother was scared. After all, if he just kept himself in his room and did not go out exploring they wouldn't be in this mess. He looked at his mom and back at Balthazar, who he could see was prepared to do anything just to keep them here.

"Mom," he gasped to get his mother's attention. It wasn't out of fright, but out of the fact if someone didn't say something he was sure there would be a lot more than just locked doors around here.

Of course, that brought the attention to his mother and subsequently Balthazar. He squirmed sometimes he didn't like having all the attention. His mother with her black hair hanging down to her shoulders and eyes frantic to get out of there he spoke.

"Mom why don't we let him explain," he said pointing to Balthazar who looked relieved. His mother however had a different idea as she flashed her Swiss Army knife if Balthazar got any closer to the two of them. He was at the bottom of the stairwell, but had slowly climbed a few steps. Now he was three steps away from them. It seemed Balthazar was piggy-backing off his earlier statement.

"Yes, why don't we do what Dave says," Balthazar calmly stated and put his hands up in a gesture of peace. His mother however replied that what he said was out of shock and fear.

Really? His mother was the one in shock, seeing as when he was in shock he usually fainted. His mother was still hostile. It seemed to Dave that Balthazar wasn't going to get much of a chance, so he just started talking.


	13. Chapter 13

_Hello final chapter of Part I :)_

_I'm happy, and yes I know it is short. Not too sure when I will start posting part II, but I still have to work on creating the story. Also since I am working on an original story as well, I'm not too sure how much I will update Part II. It will be slow, but I did finish this part._

_As always reviews are greatly appreciated._

_Also I do not own The Sorcerer's Apprentice Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer do._

_Thank you so much to my beta __**Spitfire47**_ _who pointed out some changes that needed to be made. _

_Enjoy! _

**Chapter Thirteen**

He was glad when Dave mentioned that his mother should listen to him, he wasn't the bad guy here. He understood how this seemed, he really did, but she also had to understand what was happening at large. So, he just started talking knowing he wouldn't get a second chance before Emily decided to do something stupid with that Swiss army knife of hers.

In his case about whom _he_ really was and Veronica too.

From the time finding out they were sorcerers when Merlin (yes _the Merlin_) had granted them apprenticeship, and Horvath as well. He tried to dodge that bridge until they really needed to know about it. To the war between the two schools of sorcery, Morgana Le Fay, the grimhold, and how they are here now and what that ring on Dave's finger meant. For some of it would be over Dave's head, but he hoped Emily would get it.

He hoped for his and Dave's sake.

He knew he was making some headway when Dave's mother stance changed and sat Dave down on the stairwell. Emily followed by sitting down on the stairs as he continued his tale. At times, Dave's eyes went wide with shock at the revelations he was divulging. Dave's mother was still cautious and so was Dave, but he could tell they were digesting everything he told them.

He was breaking some barriers, what was it that Eric always joked to him about from that George Lucas movie or whatever:

_You must unlearn what you have learned_

Or something to that extent, not that he needed to include a pop culture reference. Eric did have that annoying tendency at times in their conversations together.

He realized before long he finished with his story, and a silence descended around them. Emily and Dave Stutler sat on the stairwell with eyes wide and did not say a word for awhile.

"You're not making this up are you?" Emily said.

Although, she was not as hysterical as before, she was still airing on the side of caution. He could see that Emily was gripping Dave's hand and he shook his head.

"No, I'm not," he breathed.

It reflected the weight of a sorcerer who has seen way too many events in his lifetime, and hoped that Dave's mother understands this is something bigger than them.

She seemed to hear that and looked at Dave with a look of deep love and…something else as well, something he couldn't quite place.

"This is all…" she waved in the fashion that he interpreted as over her head. He sat down on the steps of the stairway, two steps below Dave. He looked at Dave, who looked at him with less caution than before, but Dave's mother, Emily, wasn't so certain.

"I know it's…a lot to take in," he said rather quietly.

They sat there absorbing what he had told them. It felt like forever when Emily turned to him and asked wearily, "I have one question."

Balthazar looked at her and nodded for her to continue.

"You wouldn't, if, and I am not saying that I like this—any of this—and I can't believe I am saying this, but if Dave decides to train, yes I am leaving this up to him because it's not my decision, but _if_ he decides to go through with all, all…of this then you wouldn't have him confront Morgana till he was ready, you know like in twenty to thirty years, right?" Emily said acridly at first, but progressed a little softer in tone.

Well, he hoped sooner than twenty years but he wouldn't know. He looked at Dave, who looked back at his mother, and he decided to ask the one question that needed to be asked.

"How do you feel with all of this Dave?" He asked. Internally, he held a bated breath knowing that this was all Dave's decision now. He couldn't force him to become the greatest sorcerer since the time of Merlin. It went against every creed he stood for.

Balthazar hoped that he got the answer he was looking for. Dave looked back at his mom and then to him, then back at his slippers, and returned with a final glance at his mother.

"I don't want someone like Morgana to ruin your life mom, or any evil at that, and if Balthazar says I can help, then I want to," Dave stated earnestly.

He would have whooped for joy, but that wasn't really dignified for a sorcerer of his degree. He had to smile at how _Merlinian_ Dave's answer seemed. This wasn't about him, and Dave at a young age realized this.

Balthazar knew since that day on the plane they were a special family, he just didn't know how special. When he saw Emily currently mess with Dave's hair and kiss him on his head, while Dave was trying, in vain, to get out of his mom's grasp out of utter embarrassment is when gave a low chuckle at this. Dave's mother replied once she slinked her arms around her son's torso and there was a contented look between the two of them.

"Well, I guess that's it then," Emily said looking at Balthazar with new eyes that understood the implications of what her son's decision would bring to her small family. He stood up from his spot and returned Emily's statement with a smirk and held out for his hand for Dave to take.

"_On contraire_ Emily, I believe we have just begun," Balthazar said with an air of finality.

From there Dave and Emily Stutler's life would change forever. When Dave stepped into the Merlin's circle and he pledged himself to Balthazar's teachings.

The reign of the Prime Merlinian had begun.


End file.
